The Power of Primal
by Roxa814
Summary: Captured, experimented on, and left with no memory, Shadow is thrown into the ultimate conflict between Team Magma and Team Aqua. Now, Sonic must enter the world of pokemon and team up with an aspiring trainer to save him. But will he simply become another pawn in this struggle? And what plans could Team Magma have in store for Shadow? (Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire!)
1. Team Magma's Secret

**Okie doki. Its kunoichi814 A.K.A Roxa back with a new story. I just wanna say I've been rereading some of the Sonic and Pokemon crossovers and I'm sad because none of the ones I've read have been finished. I've always wanted a crossover to have Sonic and others as the pokemon not the trainers because anything just feels way too awkward. And so this little piece of work was born and as a treat it is based off the latest and greatest yet of the Pokemon franchise (my opinion of course) Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire. (Waits for fan screams) So I'm gonna try my best to get this going for you guys. Enjoy!**

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Chapter 1: Team Magma's Secret…

Pain and suffering the likes of which echoed through the metal walls of an underground base reverberated loud and clear but the occupants who inhabit there could not care less. The cries had continued for weeks now and the victim had screamed so much that it became painful for it to even whisper.

The poor creature, trapped in one the bases laboratories, struggled as its body was subjected to experiment after was experiment. In the observation window behind the lab stood a skinny man with a very rigid posture. He pushed his glasses up on his nose as he watched the procedures taking place on the other side of the window with a stern yet expressionless face. He wore a coat with a shirt and shorts underneath with leggings and boots all sporting the signature colors of Team Magma, red and black. The authoritative air about him gave the impression that he would not tolerate anything but the best from his associates as he prefered to be professional and flawless as much as possible.

Another scream could be heard from the creature suffering inside…

He lay there strapped to a metal table, black and red streaked fur drenched with sweat as the electrodes constantly pumped foreign energy into him to stimulate a reaction. Maxie stood there in amazement of the being before him. He appeared to be some new type of pokemon, one that no data base in the world seemed to have information on. From what he and his colleagues could clearly see, the creature appeared to be some form of hedgehog. Four weeks ago he and his men had found this mysterious pokemon stumbling around not far from the base and captured it. When they realized that it can talk, they began to question it but found that the pokemon had no memory whatsoever of what it was doing last. His science department had practically begged him for the opportunity to examine the pokemon in greater detail. The scientists had found that the hedgehog pokemon possessed a different kind of energy inside him than aura that would allow him to absorb and perhaps even contain larger amounts of energy at their disposal. It was then that Maxie felt as if destiny had thrown him the answer to all his troubles right at his doorstep.

The stout and stern faced man had laboured hard to find the red orb essential to controlling the legendary land pokemon of the Hoenn region Groudon. But for all his trouble he could not use the orb to locate Groudon. He had learned that a large amount of energy was needed to activate the orb pinpointing the ancient pokemons location and then allowing them to awaken it. The ancient ruins he and his men had found had suggested that the lifeforce of another living being fused with the red orb would be sufficient but ultimately it would be too risky a task for a human. This was the reason as to why they were using this new pokemon and its large energy capacity to activate the red orb.

"Stop the machine. That's enough for now. We wouldn't want to damage our most valuable asset before he serves his purpose." Maxie spoke into a small microphone on the collar of his coat. He saw several scientists removing electrodes from the hedgehog before moving its limp body to a gurney to be rolled out of the small lab area.

This creature, with the ability to absorb energy, had quickly proven itself to be compatible with the aura of their world.

Maxie had stood over the hedgehog noting how the streaks in its fur had drastically changed after it had being fused with the red orb for so long. The long red streaks still went up and down its arms and legs but now, the backs of its hands, feet, and below its chest fur had streaks that lead into a circle that appeared to branch off into three different lines. The red highlights were thicker around its eyes and stretched around to its quills. _The same markings that were similar to the black ones on Groudon._

"What progress have you made as far as the activation of the red orb?" The leader of team magma inquired.

"His progress is slow but steady. Everyday the increased energy seems to come closer and closer to eliciting a reaction. If we amp up the energy input we should be able to get results even faster. " said Xavier one of the scientists who is currently assisting with experimentation answered.

Maxie nodded as the hedgehog pokemon was wheeled away. All he had to do was continue to keep Team Aqua and the Secret Pokemon Police in the dark about his secret and he could get away scott free.

No sooner had Maxie thought this had the alarm had gone off signaling that there were intruders in his base.

 _But of course things are never that easy._

* * *

Explosions had rang out as several arcanine used flame thrower to bust down the steel doors to the base. As the smoke cleared several team magma grunts had rushed to the entrance throwing out their pokeballs.

"Squad 3 form a blockade! We can't let them get through! " One of Team Magma's commanders said taking charge of the situation in their leader's absence.

Squad 3 and their mightyena had already formed a semicircle against the intruders. To their displeasure it seems the attackers were the Secret Pokemon Police force after all. They all wore navy blue uniforms similar to officer jenny except a bit more heavy duty. It wasn't long before the two forces were fighting each other trading flamethrower with crunch and thunder fang with sucker punch.

While the police force advanced on Team Magma a slim figure in black clothing managed to sneak by all the chaos without much effort. She held a special tracking device in her hand that was picking up a signal as she turned in different hallways and corridors.

"Hey you! You're with the police force aren't you!" It was another Team Magma grunt female this time. "You won't get away from me! Let's go houndoom!" She threw her pokeball and the rottweiler like pokemon with curved horns appeared giving an intimidating growl.

 _I don't have time to fool around with her._

"Garchomp! Battle Dance!" The stranger in black shouted as the bipedal dragon and ground type made its entrance. "Gaaaaar!" Yellow eyes bore holes into the opposing houndoom with no fear ready for any order its trainer will give it.

"Houndoom use smog," the female grunt said as her pokemon began to spew a black mist reducing visibility. The mysterious stranger quickly covered her mouth with her sleeve as the smog surrounded her. Any other inexperienced trainer might be worried at this but not her. She's the Sinnoh League's champion and much too experienced to be worried by a little smog. That's why she stayed calm even when she heard the grunt shout fire fang.

There was a satisfying whine from no one but the houndoom who failed in its attempt to attack her garchomp under the cover of the smog.

"Garchomp use brick break. "

The next thing the female grunt knows is that her houndoom had been hit with enough force to send it flying into her and out into the next corridor knocking them both unconscious. The trainer in black looked at her device again the radar showing that she was very close now.

* * *

"Hurry up you fools I want the pokemon out of here before we face any interference. " Maxie was busy rushing his underlings to transport their project into the large vehicle that they had set aside for emergencies. He kept his business like cool but he couldn't help but worry. He refused to have his work snatched away so quickly.

Just as his men had pushed the cage containing the hedgehog pokemon into the military like van, a hole in the wall had been blasted through and a tall blonde and her garchomp stepped through setting their sights on Maxie.

Despite the urgent need to escape, Maxie couldn't help but be curious about this new stranger and the feeling of deja vu it gave him. He turned towards the woman with a calculating stare before speaking.

"Well this is certainly a surprise. I never thought that I'd have the Sinnoh League Champion come knocking at my doorstep. Tell me Cynthia, what brings you to my underground base so unannounced?"

"Well Maxie I'm so glad you asked. It just so happens to be that I owe a favor to the leader of the Secret Pokemon Police and helping them uncover your little secret is part of the deal. In fact I want to know why you seem to be in such a hurry to leave."

"I'm afraid I'm not at liberty to give you such information."He closed his eyes and walked in front of the military like truck while taking out a pokeball from behind his back. "You see my plans to further the progress of mankind are finally within my grasp and I can't have pestering trainers like you becoming immersed in those plans."

He threw the pokeball and out came camerupt, the mini volcanoes on its back blowing out fire.

"Earth Power." He said with a cool tone while adjusting his glasses. The ground began to shake and fire spewed in random places as the ground began to break up. Cynthia was having trouble keeping her balance and so was her Garchomp. When she saw Maxie and his camerupt escaping into the truck she called out to her partner to go after him. Garchomp was just about to catch up to the truck with its ability to fly when part of the ground made unstable by the earth power jutted up suddenly cutting it off from advancing further. When the Sinnoh League champion finally got her bearings and came to stand beside her Garchomp the truck was gone but the blond haired champion knew that if they got away now the Secret Pokemon Police might never be able to find Maxie's whereabouts again.

"Cynthia, what happened?!" The familiar voice of the commanding officer Jenny had asked through her earpiece. The blonde had got on the back of her garchomp before responding again. "I'm going after Maxie, he can't be too far away yet."

"All right but be careful Cynthia just because you're the Sinnoh League Champion doesn't mean Team Magma is any less dangerous base or not,"

"I'll be fine Jenny. And hopefully after all this we can all go for some ice cream." She flung her hair from in front of her face and braced herself.

"Gaaaaaar!" Garchomp had took off stretching its arms out as the wing like appendages on its arms caught air heading in the direction the truck had left in. When they reached the surface they saw the truck was already quite a bit ahead, the driver obviously not caring much for speed limits as he went.

"Garchomp use draco meteor," The ground and dragon pokemon let out a growl as an orange ball of energy shot from its mouth before splitting into several pieces all landing in close proximity to the truck. One of the mini meteors managed to hit close enough to damage the wheels of the truck sending it screeching across the road as it came to an abrupt stop. Its lucky that the base was in a relatively open area close to the sea otherwise the commotion would draw lots of unwanted attention.

The driver of the truck-a team magma grunt with light blue hair- stepped out shaken up from the collision followed by Maxie whose cold stare was trying to scorch holes in Cynthia's stern calm one.

"Give it up Maxie, you can't escape. You'll make things a lot less harder on you and your team if you surrender."

Maxie simply smirked at Cynthia's bravado. "You seem to think you've backed me into a corner, but I will not allow it." He continued to smirk even as the Secret Pokemon Police had managed to catch up and surround Maxie and his grunts with their own vehicles.

"I suppose I'll have to part ways with you now Sinnoh League Champion but I will return. Until then I assume you'll take good care of my property in my absence. Farewell Cynthia. " And before Cynthia could give her garchomp a command he and his grunts had disappeared into red smoke. Maxie was gone…

Cynthia closed her eyes as Jenny had rode up on her motorcycle. "What happened here?"

"Maxie got away from me but I believe he left behind whatever was so important to him in the truck." The gray eyed blonde began walking to the back of the truck followed by her garchomp before seeing a cart with an energy powered cage placed on top. She could clearly make out that a pokemon inside the cage but she had never seen one like this before. However, what she did know is that if Team Magma would return to retrieve this pokemon then it was her responsibility as a trainer to make sure that it was kept safe and out of their reach.

"I promise that everything will be alright." She said in a soft tone as she pushed the button releasing the cage. A black ear twitched at the sound of her voice as the hedgehog continued to sleep oblivious to everything that transpired.

It seems that Cynthia had her work cut out for her.

* * *

 **Whew done! So guys tell me how I did. This is my first crossover so I'm a little worried about doing it. To be honest if there is anyone willing to help out or give ideas in writing it by all means don't be shy. :) I'm open to suggestions. Also I just bought Pokemon Omega Ruby today and I'll try to write the fic along with my playthrough. I gotta say I'm already enjoying it alot.**

 **Lastly I think some of you out there would enjoy seeing Cynthia. I personally grew up with Platinum version and I love that game so much. Just so you all know now I'm not using Ash. I'm so sick of him so I'm replacing him with my own OC. I hope you like him! (He doesn't come in until chapter 3)**


	2. Trusting the Sinnoh League Champion!

**You know I'm really starting to enjoy writing this story a lot. Since I did say this was a crossover based on Omega Ruby** _ **and**_ **Alpha Sapphire it will have two sides respective to the two versions of the game. The first you've probably realized is Omega Ruby and will obviously focus on Shadow. The second side which will start in the next chapter will focus on another character and the OC. (And no he will not be named Brenden but hopefully he will not disappoint)**

 **And now Chapter 2!**

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Chapter 2: Trusting the Sinnoh League Champion

"Remarkable! What an incredible amount energy this one pokemon possesses!" Professor Birch had already examined the black hedgehog several times quickly taking care of any electrical burns that marred his body. He had done many harmless tests to gain as much information as possible on the new pokemon.

The black furred creature who was once flinching in his sleep from pain seemed to be resting a lot easier, but it was clear that he wasn't still extremely exhausted.

"Professor Birch, officer Jenny wants a thorough report on the unknown pokemon." Birches purple haired assistant named Joshua said as he walked into the lab.

"Yes, of course. I'll be right with her." Birch carefully took the ebony hedgehog in his arms (minding the very sharp quills) and moved him to the infirmary like area.

* * *

"So, from the info you've gained so far you don't have a solid answer as to why Team Magma was after this pokemon?" Jenny's voice was loud and clear through the video feed in Birch's lab. The professor had given her a full report but she was a bit miffed that she didn't know exactly what Team Magma was trying to do. It frustrated her because it means she and her police force didn't know what to expect and in her experience ignorance can lead to disaster.

"I'm afraid so. The results show two energies present: the first being Aura, the energy present within all humans and pokemon. And the second is _different._ I don't completely understand it myself so its hard to explain but it's inconsistent and unpredictable but undeniably important to its lifeforce."

As soon as the professor had began talking about the two energies, Jenny had been deep in thought. _Could Team Magma be after the second energy the black pokemon possesses? S_ he mused.

"Its not much to go on but its better than nothing. Have you informed Cynthia?" Jenny inquired.

"No but I'll see to it immediately. " Birch said shuffling some papers into a neat stack.

"Great. The police force will continue trailing Maxie and Team Magma. In the meantime you should continue finding out all you can about the new pokemon and keep me updated. Jenny out." She gave a salute before the screen turned off.

* * *

The black hedgehog who had managed to regain some of his energy, squinted as his eyes begun to adjust to the brightness of the room.

He was alone and he could feel it and this gave him some comfort since the only interaction he had experienced was extremely painful.

He began moving his arms before trying to sit up. His body began to protest immediately afterward and he winced finally taking notice of the bandages all around his being. He almost didn't notice his gloves and shoes that went missing. He sat there in silence a few more moments assessing the damage to his body before picking up two voices in another room. He heard something about energy and Team Magma to which hearing the name made him instinctively growl. After the two voices had faded out, a broad man with brown hair, a brown beard, and a white lab coat stepped in, a bit surprised to find the hedgehog was already awake.

"You're awake!" He spoke with a genuine smile on his face and warm kind eyes.

The black hedgehog took one look at the man and tensed up feeling another urge to growl and even bare his fangs. The professor was afraid of getting this kind of reaction.

"Woah! Take it easy. I'm not here to hurt you, I just want to help. " Birch had to be careful now. He had dealt with similar situations before. When a trainer or a human in general mistreats a pokemon, it becomes harder for that pokemon to form a bond with new trainers. Knowing that the impression Team Magma left on the hedgehog was negative Birch took caution and tried to look as not threatening as possible by holding up his hands and stepping forward slowly.

However, the ebony and crimson hedgehog would have none of it. Seeing the white lab coat aroused painful memories of experiments he was put through by uncaring scientists. Instead of 'taking it easy' he bolted from the lab past a surprised professor whose lab coat went flying from the gust his speed created. Admittedly the black creature was still quite quick despite not fully recovering.

Birch didn't even have time to shout out after him.

"Profesor! I think I just saw the unknown Pokemon-" Joshua shouted who just happened to be on his way back to the lab when a black blur rushed past him scattering all his documents.

"I know. Contact Cynthia!" Birch had responded to his assistant. _I hope shes close enough to bring him back to the lab._

* * *

 _Hmmm...maybe this flavor..._

Cynthia stood in front of an icecream vendor with a contemplative look on her face. The vendor looked both irritated and annoyed. Why? Because the blonde woman had spent twenty minutes at his stand and could still not choose a flavor. Luckily he hadn't been getting many customers today. It would have continued for who knows how long if it weren't for a blur rushing past creating a gust strong enough to blow anything light not attached to something away.

Cynthia didn't see it was because it was moving too fast but she had a suspicion about what it was. Her suspicion became even stronger when she heard her phone ring,

"Professor Birch?" She answered when she saw the caller.

"Cynthia! Listen, the pokemon you just rescued escaped! It's probably still in the area. If you hurry you might be able to catch it." Birch said a bit panicked.

"I understand. I'll be back in the lab with it shortly." She took out a pokeball and out came Lucario. " My dear Lucario, I need your speed and aura senses to find the missing pokemon." The black and blue pokemon nodded in understanding and ran off with Cynthia following behind it.

Lucario had stopped in small clearing eyes closed, paws out and ears alert. It could feel the aura of its trainer and the aura of any pokemon nearby but there was one signature that stood out among all the rest. It focused its senses only on that aura immediately drawing the blonde trainers attention to one of the trees that was slightly rustling.

"Use psychic to bring it out." The steel fighting types eyes glowed blue as it focused its energy and a moment later a black and red hedgehog was floating in front of the champion and her pokemon. He tried to squirm but he couldn't even move as psychics power kept him in place. He did however growl as he glared into silver eyes with anger.

Cynthia was a bit hurt by the look the hedgehog was giving her but she didn't show it. "Theres no need to be so angry. Yesterday I along with the pokemon police rescued you from Team Magma. I don't know what you think of Professor Birch and I but I want to make it clear that we are not your enemies."

The hedgehog only continued to glare, red ruby eyes never letting up. In fact his growl became louder.

"You're...lying..." The hedgehog barely spoke through his growl and Cynthia's eyes widened not sure if she imagined the voice. The hedgehog had taken the opportunity to struggle much harder. The markings on his body had begun to glow a bright red and Lucario's psychic broke sending it flying into a tree.

Cynthia rushed to lucario to make sure it was alright only to look up and see that the black furred pokemon had leaped high in the air most likely preparing for an attack. Lucario uninjured and ready stood in front if its trainer protectively and locked eyes with a pair just as red as his. The hedgehog still barefoot came down with a hard kick that lucario blocked in his first paw followed by another kick that lucario also blocked. It held the smaller pokemon in place as it spun around and threw it into a tree. The hedgehog gasped as he felt the wind knocked out of him but he was quick to recover. He and lucario looked as if they were trying to kill each other with their eyes. It was the kind of look that would put a scary face and intimidate to shame. Before either pokemon could make a move Cynthia stood between them blocking their line of sight. She quickly addressed the hedgehog. "You can speak can't you?" She said in a soft warm tone after bending down on one knee. It caught the ebony hedgehog off guard but instinctively he could already feel himself calm down. "To be the experiment for someone else's benefit is not only wrong but abusive. As a trainer I live to protect and cherish pokemon not harm them. "She placed a hand on top of his head in between flattened ears and surprisingly he did not flinch although the snarl was still present. The ruby eyed hedgehog continued to glare but even his anger could not withstand the sincerity in the trainers expression especially with the gentle touch that vaguely reminded him of something very familiar.

The ebony and crimson furred hedgehog still had his doubts about trusting humans and if he had his memories something told him he might not have been so quick to relent but this human in particular seemed different. Even with lucario giving disapproving glares to him behind her back (that he managed to ignore ) he felt that Cynthia may be worth sticking with especially since there were lots of things he didn't understand.

With the warm hand still gently petting him between the ears he looked deep into silver eyes searching for a hint of anything that would make him regret putting his trust in her and when he found none he took a deep breath before speaking.

"Shadow...its my name." he said in an almost inaudible tone.

It seems Cynthia wasn't imagining his voice after all but she didn't expect his to be so deep! In fact from the moment she had laid eyes on the hedgehog she had felt something mysterious about him and now that she knew his name and heard his voice he truly was mysterious.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Shadow. And my name is Cynthia." She smiled as she stood up and began walking back towards the lab after returning Lucario back to its pokeball expecting Shadow to follow. He stood there a moment looking at the trainer clad in black, blond hair swaying back and forth gently as she walked until Cynthia stopped.

"Are you coming or not?" She asked over her shoulder. Shadow stood there a moment longer looking into the sky as he thought about his future before walking up beside Cynthia and giving her a blank look.

"Yes I am." He said deciding to put his trust in this trainer and see what happens next.

* * *

 **I was a bit worried about this chapter but I think it came out fine and it will get even better as it goes. I'm still loving my playthrough of Omega Ruby on my 3Ds. I've been looking up a lot lately about becoming a more competitive pokemon battler and omg I feel like there's so much to remember like which pokemon belong to which tiers and what movesets people usually run. I plan to put in a little bit of technical stuff similar to things like that in this fic but not too much. I know some of you might be reading it for kicks so I wouldn't want to lose you by going on and on about it.**


	3. The Start Of A New Adventure!

**Hello** **everybody! I'm glad to be updating. I LIED! PLOT TWIST! Not really. The next chapters turned out differently than I thought so the OC won't appear until chapter six. Sorry... You know someone else updated a sonic and pokemon crossover quite recently. Is it wrong that I want mine to be way better than theirs because I have Sonic and Shadow as pokemon something I think a lot of people wanted? Hmm... oh well I will mention that I'll probably go into more detail than necessary with their dex entries and stat understanding but it won't be really necessary to remember it I'm just doing it for fun. For those of you who think pokemon is straight up strategy feel free to either correct me on something technical if you know what you're talking about and because I plan to make this story super long I'd like some pokemon battle suggestions as far as which pokemon you might want to see battling our four main protagonists. If you can be specific in moves and abilities that would be great.**

 **Enjoy!**

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Chapter 3: The Start Of A New Adventure

"Yes!Yes! No don't do that! Left! Aw come on!" Gloved hands tapped frantically at buttons on the game controller as their owner made exaggerated movements. A blue hedgehog none other than Sonic the hedgehog was engrossed in the only other hobby he had that wasn't running, fighting Eggman or eating chillidogs. And that was video games. If he hadn't stopped for a moment to pop his knuckles and relax his fingers he probably wouldn't have heard his little brother, a yellow fox named Tails, enter the living room.

"You're still playing that game?" He asked walking into the kitchen and pouring himself some water.

"I can't help it. After that last stunt Eggy tried to pull with those six Zeti he'll be down and out for a good while. I gotta do something to get rid of the boredom," the blue hero replied.

The yellow kitsune took one look at the game before speaking again. "I see you're still into fighting games though I thought by now you'd be tired of them."

"No way! Fighting games are the best. Beating the crap out something virtually is almost as satisfying as real life. Besides their way more upbeat and fast paced than those strategy games you play." Sonic said picking up the controller again.

Tails had to roll his eyes at that. Don't get him wrong, he doesn't doubt Sonic even though he acts recklessly or rashly sometimes, his big brother always manages to pull through and save everyone including him. However, it doesn't change the fact that he worries a bit when the blue hedgehog flies off the handle. Tails usually likes to have some sort of plan in mind because he knows that one day Sonics speed may not be enough. A harsh truth but one that is very realistic especially if Eggman continues to improve on failed models of robots. "It never hurts to have strategy and plan ahead."

By this point emerald eyes were glued to the screen again starting the next match. "Yeah maybe but I've always preferred to wing it. How's your new invention coming along?" He said deciding to change the subject.

Tails had opened one of the cabinets grabbing some chips and smiling. He always enjoyed talking about his inventions and he was especially proud of his latest one. "Its coming along great in fact all I need to do now is test it."

He started to go into greater detail about it, something about a device that can find and open portals to other dimensions. Sonic tried to show interest in it but between the game and the fact that he hardly understood any of Tails' science talk most of it went in one ear and out the other but he still felt like he should try to show interest. Luckily he was saved from more of it when the doorbell rang.

"I've got it." He said getting up to answer only to find Rouge at his doorstep.

"Rouge? What are you doing here?" The blue hero almost never sees the white bat at his door considering GUN always occupies so much of her time. Seeing her makes him wonder if something happened especially since she didn't have that flirtatious air about her at the moment.

"Its about Shadow..." she trailed off. Sitting down on the couch opposite of where Sonic had sat. When the fox saw Rouge step in he had walked over as well just as curious as his big brother.

"He went missing two days ago leaving no indication of his whereabouts."

"But doesn't Shadow disappear for days without telling anyone where he's going anyway." Tails asked remembering the solitary and conservative nature the black hedgehog possesses.

"Yes and normally he never gives Omega and I a reason to worry because he always comes back on his own or reports in on his progress to GUN. " The bat rubbed her arm looking down at the floor. "But this time it's different. The only message we received was a static recording of Shadows last moments before whatever it was attacked him. GUN tried to locate him but there was nothing. Not even signs of a battle taking place. It's like he disappeared off the face of mobius. He even left his chaos emerald behind."

"Sounds like my rival has gotten himself into big trouble." The azure hedgehog said leaning back into the couch. Although the overconfident hero seemed calm on the outside he couldn't help but be concerned. Shadow was _not_ a pushover by any means. All the bruises, broken ribs, and cuts he had received during their fights were proof of that. Which means that whatever attacked Shadow was either incredibly strong or had the element of surprise and was fast enough to take the black hedgehog before he could escape.

"Rouge could I see the chaos emerald?" The super intelligent kit asked. When the bat handed him the emerald and he began walking towards his workshop both Sonic and Rouge followed behind curiously. It was much bigger on the inside then you would think if you were only looking at the house from outside. There was a huge table set aside with several computer monitors and a larger table in center where several machine parts and tools lay along with a stack of blueprints. Shelves lined some of the walls where smaller parts were stored in boxes with labels. To top it off it smelled strongly of metal with a slight tinge of oil but Tails didn't seem to mind, in fact he was use to it. Overall it was the perfect mixture of organization and disorganization true to the environment of a genius or child prodigy which ever you prefer.

"What's up Tails?" The blue speedster asked when the yellow kit placed the red emerald in a machine and began typing away on a computer.

"Well since Shadow was using this emerald before he disappeared that means his residual energy is probably still present. I may be able to use that to track him down. " Tails said furiously typing away.

"But what if he's not on Mobius anymore or in even in our dimension?" Rouge inquired.

"It still shouldn't be difficult. As a matter of fact my new invention along with a few tweaks here and there should be able to trace Shadows energy and create a portal to wherever he is."

"It can do that?" Sonic asked amazed at what his little brothers machine can do.

"Sonic, I told you this earlier..."

"Oh you did?" The blue hero said scratching his head. _Guess I was fully zoned out when he started talking about what it does._

"Some big brother you are, not paying more attention to the kid. " Rouge teased despite her worry for her partner. Tails just sighed. _Why am I not surprised._

 _"_ Bingo! I just found his energy signature. _"_ The fox then stood up and walked over to something large hidden under a sheet. He uncovered it with one hand movement to reveal a large circular ring of metal with a panel on the side with slots for all seven emeralds.

"I call it my Dimensional Transporter Portal, or DTP for short." Both Sonic and Rouge stood in front if the metal ring impressed by the handiwork of the machinery. The blue hedgehog gave a whistle before walking to the panel with seven slots. This wasn't the first time they had seen one of Tails' inventions but it still surprises them to think that a kid did all this.

"Where did you even get the idea to build a dimensional transporter anyway." Sonic said leaning against a table and picking up what looked like blueprints for the very machine they were testing out.

"Funny you should ask that. Remember that time you were forced to take Amy on a date the entire day before Eggman had found the lost hex." Sonic visibly shuddered. He had nightmares about about marrying Amy and ending up having twenty kids after that day. She just wouldn't stop talking about their future together, asking all kinds of uncomfortable questions like where they would spend their honeymoons, whether he preferred to have twins and by far the worst one asking about how big his...well I think you know. _Where did she get asking that kind of question from? Furthermore why does it even matter if you're obsessed about me anyway?!_

"Sonic... are you zoning out again?" The yellow fox frowned.

"Sorry go on Tails."

"Well to put it shortly I got a visit from a me from another dimension. We talked for a long time about friends and our inventions and he told me there are versions of you, Knuckles, and Amy too. Anyways the whole thing left me with an idea to try and visit other dimensions. "

"And that's why you built this thing." Rouge finished.

"Yup."

"But can this thing really help us get Shadow back." Rouge didn't have much reason to doubt the kit, after all _most_ of his inventions were pretty useful but the kid as smart as he is can still make mistakes.

"Theoretically it should work. The portal will trace the residual energy and create a pathway connecting it to the origin of that energy. Its pretty simple." He said as he pushed a button letting the machine come to life. "Now we just have to decide on who's going." He looked to the two other mobians in the workshop for an answer.

"I wish I could help you find him but the commander will probably want me here. We were kinda of in the middle of something important when Shadow went missing and I can't afford to play hooky anymore or he'll threaten to do something crazy again." The spy said genuinely upset that she won't be any help.

"Don't worry Rouge I'll bring prince grumps a lot back and we can all have a laugh about this later. " He gave a thumbs up and one of his signature smiles. The blue speedster was doing his best to cheer up the bat, after all it's always been his job to keep those around him in high spirits. (Shadow excluded)

Rouge couldn't help but smile. The emerald eyed hedgehog might be cocky at times but his attitude is contagious and you can't help but believe in someone with that much confidence. "Thanks big blue. Even though I can't join you I'll come by as much as possible to help out the kid if he needs it."

"Cool. Hey Tails, I'm ready anytime buddy."

"Just a moment." His twin tails began spinning as he flew up to the other side of the lab and reached for something on a high shelf. He tossed the small device to Sonic who caught it in one hand. "What's this?"

"Its a communicator to contact me when you want to leave. But it also serves as a tracer. When you and Shadow are ready to leave all you have to do is put a little chaos into it and it'll send a signal to me here where I can create a portal for you to come back here." Of course like his portal he hadn't tested the watch like device his big brother was putting on now but he hoped it worked fine. He wasn't planning on testing it on people just yet in case there was some unseen problem he had to fix but if Shadow needed help they couldn't waste time. "All set! Let's get this show on the road."

"Wait! Are you sure you don't want anyone else to come with you." The blue hero thought about it a minute before speaking. _Amy's a definite no, she'd glomp me to death before I'd find Shadow. Knuckles is busy guarding the master emerald as always. The Chaotix will end up being more trouble than they're worth..._ "Nope, I think I'll be fine."

"Are you sure? This won't be like those times you jumped into some story book or was summoned to a medieval world that you claim you became a king in." Rouge said.

"Because I did!" Sonic said slightly annoyed that Rouge along with Shadow refuse to believe that he had what it takes to be a king. They seem to find it very funny much to the speedsters displeasure. "And I'll be fine like always." He added after a few moments.

"If you say so. Try not to take forever though 'kay hun."

Sonic snorted. "I'll be back before you can even _think_ about stealing your next emerald."

"Alright all systems go!" Tails announced. With the coordinates set and all seven emeralds in place the portal began to glow a bright white. The emeralds began to glow as they pumped chaos into the machine and the blue hero felt his fur tingle all over from the rush of energy. It was the start of a new adventure for him, one that could possibly be more unique and memorable than all the ones hero of mobius gave one last thumbs up to his friends before stepping through the portal to another world.

If he had stayed a few minutes more he might have been there to see the roar of an angry dragon shatter nearly everything in the lab, see the portal exploding, and see the seven chaos emeralds disappear from sight...

* * *

 **I bet some of you are already wondering who that dragon is. I'll give you a hint: Its a legendary from the Sinnoh region. Honestly I don't understand why that legendary and its counterpart aren't used more in pokemon and Sonic crossovers. You could do so much with it because if how it connects to chaos (c'mon space and time!) SMH... That just makes me wanna cry. Anyway I'm in good shape since I'm already working on chapter six so there shouldn't be any really long periods of time between updating for several chapters.**


	4. Wrath of the Water Dragon

**Alright guys new chapter is dine and I feel like I'm on a roll. I feel a bit bittersweet about this chapter because in my head I felt like it could have been better but I'm not sure what else I could have done. I had at least two huge sections I deleted and retyped because I just wasn't feeling it. In the end I felt like its a decent chapter and establishes the points I'm trying to make. For those of you who really like this chapter, cool I tend to make high expectations for myself.**

 **Enjoy!**

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Chapter 4: Wrath of the Water Dragon

The bright light of the portal was blinding but eventually it died down to reveal...space? Sonic stood on a chunk of floating rock in a dark and seemingly endless void filled with what looked like stars in the distance. Strangely it wasn't freezing and there was oxygen which the hedgehog was thankful for.

"I hope Tails machine actually worked. I'd hate to be stranded in another dimension that doesn't even have chillidogs." He said jokingly walking forward. Unbeknownst to the blue hero a small pink creature had been nearby when he arrived into this spatial dimension. Curious and playful it looked on at the hedgehog with its head tilted to the side before following along.

Sonic, wanting to contact Tails to be sure he was in the right place started fiddling with the device on his wrist. "Hello?Tails?Rouge?Anybody?" The small little screen on the device showed static with no response no matter how many buttons Sonic pushed. Eventually he gave up and sighed closing the device to look around. Off to his left floated the slightly ominous ruins of some sort of palace. "I might as well look around a bit while I'm here."

He leapt using each piece of rock as a stepping stone until he landed near the ruined piece of palace. There wasn't anything that looked particularly abnormal about it other than the fact that a strange language was written on part of one the columns attached to the arches. He walked farther inside it giving off a whistle as he admired what could have been a hugely intricate place except it had no ceiling.

The pink and curious creature was hiding behind one of the columns making sure that the hedgehog was not looking everytime he moved.

The azure hedgehog had stopped in the center of a very open area and looked down to the ground. There was a mural of some sort etched into the center around four strange looking creatures. One of them walked on all fours and was dark blue and white. The other right across from it stood on two legs, had two things on its back that looked like wings and a pearl on its shoulder. The one below those two seemed to have no legs, in fact it had these six black like arms with a single red tipped spike on each. The last of the creatures was above all three of them. It was mostly white, walked on all fours and seemed to have some kind of gold ring on its body that almost looks like it was constricting it. Never having seen these creatures before, the blue hero didn't know what to make of this mural. It seemed powerful in some way but he couldn't understand why. It was at that moment that the pink creature decided to venture much closer to the hedgehog almost entirely sure that he was not dangerous.

It floated right behind him at first and then floated lower when the hedgehog bent down to run his hand across the stone floor. The blue hero rubbed the dust between his fingers as the pink cat like creature peeked a bit over his shoulder as if it too was genuinely curious about what Sonic was looking at.

Sonic felt as if something was near him and looked over his left shoulder but found nothing there. Then the pink cat moved to his right shoulder and moved again when Sonic looked over his right shoulder. The blue hero raised an eyebrow and stood up swearing he thought something was there and turned around as fast as he could to see if anyone was behind him but there was nothing there.

The small cat that had teleported right before it could be seen was without a doubt a playful creature called Mew. It can be as mysterious as any legendary pokemon and it cannot resist the urge to play and discover just like a small child. It giggled placing its small paws over its mouth, quite amused by the hedgehogs bewildered expression. Oh yes, Mew would definitely be able to have a bit of fun with our hero.

The blue speedster now slightly more alert than before continued walking around in the ruined palace until he came across a row of mostly unbroken mirrors lined next to each other on the right side of the wall. Sonic walked by slowly seeing himself in every mirror until he stopped at one in particular.

" _Theres something about this mirror that seems off_." He saw another blue hedgehog exactly like him standing across from himself and neither he nor the other moved. He put his hands on his hips and the copy did the same at nearly the exact same time. He was even putting on the same expression. Part of Sonic knew this wasn't a mirror but the other part didn't care. He found this copy of himself a bit amusing since this whatever it is didn't try to attack him like Metal Sonic did. He was in a quite a playful mood considering that he might not have been transported to the right dimension but he couldn't resist the urge.

He lifted up his right hand slowly waving it in a 'hi' gesture and his look-a-like did the same. He flattened his ears to his skull and crossed his arms while tapping his foot and saw the same thing in the 'mirror'. He rubbed his finger under his little black nose in a signature gesture he does when he's feeling cocky adding a smirk to top it off. Next he turned slightly ,closed one of his eyes ,wagged his finger ,and gave it one of his most charming smiles. Every single movement seemed to mimic his with exact timing but Sonic could see the bit of time it took for the other to copy him." _You're pretty good at this. "_ He thought. " _But can you handle this one?"_ He turned his upper body around seeing the other blue hedgehog do the same. When he turned around he made the most exaggerated face he could by stretching his mouth, pulling it with his fingers and sticking out his tongue. Both hedgehogs held their expression for a few moments until one of them began giggling. Sonic looked on with curiosity as the other blue hedgehog could not hold his expression and doubled over with laughter. The blue hero noticed that the giggling sounded nothing like his voice at all and was in fact very high pitched almost child like.

Eventually the second blue hedgehog had transformed back into a light pink little cat with a long tail ,short arms, and blue eyes. When it stopped laughing, Mew had floated through the space where the mirror would have been, face to face with Sonic. It smiled realizing that it was sort of silly to think that the azure hedgehog could have been dangerous and began making circles around him while smiling. "Mew Mew!" It chirped waving its little arms around excitedly.

The blue speedster watched with awe as the little pink cat seemed to be doing a little dance around him before smiling himself. "Well aren't you full of energy little guy?"

"Mew!" It said again doing a little loop in front of Sonic. "Where did you come from?" He said genuinely curious. He's seen quite a bit in the time he's been alive but this is the first time he's come across a being like this that could transform into him.

Mew couldn't exactly answer the blue hedgehogs question as it would be hard to explain with lots of exaggerated movements but it did understand what he was asking. So instead of trying to explain it simply tilted its head to the side in a very cute movement that only it could pull off so well.

Sonic saw how the pink cat simply tilted his head and thought that maybe it just didn't understand him but he tried again anyway.

"Umm well I'm looking for a friend. See I'm not from this world or dimension or whatever and I came here to bring him back. He's a black and red hedgehog similar to me and four of his quills are up like this." He pulled up a couple of his own quills for emphasis. "He wears gold rings on his wrists and has red eyes and scowls a lot like this." He pulls up the top outer edges of his eyes to make it easier to scowl in what would be a very comical impression of Shadow. In fact it was comical enough to make Mew laugh again.

"So have you seen him?" He wasn't entirely sure if the little pink cat understood everything he was trying to say but he seemed to understand something as he took the blue heroes gloved hand in its two smaller ones and pulled obviously trying to take him somewhere.

"Mew. Mew." It gave him a knowing look and Sonic was happy that he may at least be able to find something he could use to track down his rival.

As Mew flew off Sonic ran behind it keeping up easily even though there was no solid ground to run on. They left the ruined palace behind and as they went the blue speedster swore he heard something far in the endless distance. It sounded like a roar but from what he didn't know. He looked behind him hearing it again but saw nothing that gave away the form nor shape of the creature but he wasn't that worried because they were obviously heading away from it.

Mew had stopped floating above a larger piece of ground circling a bit around the area as Sonic landed smoothly near the edge. When the hedgehog was close enough Mew floated in front of the him and pointed to the ground. "What is it you want me to see?"

He looked down below Mew and saw two black like lines that broke off every foot or so side by side and went farther in the direction they had just been going in. "These marks, I've seen them before." Sonic placed his hands on the marks until he realized why they looked so familiar. "These are scorch marks made from Shadows chaos powered shoes. Shadow was here wasn't he?" He had turned to Mew for a confirmation but it only continued to stare at the black marks slightly flicking its tail. Judging from how wide the black marks were, the black hedgehog must have been pouring on the speed. It suggests that Shadow was pumping quite a bit of chaos into his shoes to get away from something.

 _Alright so at least I know where he's been, that's progress right?_

Sonic was about to ask Mew if it could show him any other clues that would help him track down his rival but a very familiar roar stopped him and it was much closer now. Near the edge of the rock a rift had formed, darkness only revealing two red eyes inside. The blue hedgehog had stepped back seeing the silhouette of its body come through: A long neck, two arms and legs, a long tail, wing like appendages on its back, and a round orange like pearl on its shoulder. It possessed a white and violet body coloring that made it seem mysterious in some way or another. He realized that it was the same creature in the mural he had just been looking at a few minutes ago.

"What is that thing?" The blue hedgehog asked not really addressing Mew but at the same time having no one else to talk to. Palkia had begun making all kinds or angry noises that sounded like snarling in what Sonic only guessed was some kind of speech as it seemed to address Mew. The blue hedgehog even thought he felt the space around him fill with pressure when its red eyes focused on him for a few seconds.

Mew floated in front of the hedgehog unafraid of this powerful pokemon. Although it much rather preferred playing and goofing off it certainly didn't believe that Palkia had a right to attack its new friend.

Mew had begun speaking to the water dragon moving around as if to emphasize what it was saying and the blue hero had to admit it sounded like it was trying to be serious. At some point during the exchange Sonic began to feel a headache coming on. From the moment he had stepped into this dimension he had felt a tingly sensation all over his body. He had brushed it off as simply side effects of dimensional traveling similar to how he sometimes feels when using the chaos emeralds but now it had turned into a very painful headache.

" _Unacceptable! He is not a being from our world. He belongs back in his own dimension just as you belong in ours,"_ a loud resounding voice said. Emerald eyes widened as he realized that the voice came from the large white and violet dragon glaring holes into both of them.

Palkia was angry with Mew for allowing a creature from another dimension to stay here. Not only was it territorial like its counterpart Dialga but it felt a strong sense of duty to protect the fragile balance between space and time. Both felt they could not afford to have such disturbances such as dimensional travelers within their jurisdictions. They knew that if they just let anyone pass through space and time it could rip apart the balance that they have protected since its beginning, jeopardizing not just their world but many others connected to it. The collapse of one world could lead to another in a catastrophic domino effect ending the existences of countless lives.

Mew began to argue back with Palkia and now that the blue hedgehog could understand what both creatures were saying it left him feeling touched. Mew was defending Sonic like it had known him for much longer than maybe twenty minutes. In fact Sonic felt the need to step in to defend Mew. Even though he knew absolutely nothing about this creature or the little pink cat, his instinct to protect and defend others was kicking in and he couldn't resist it.

"Hey you, Palkia !" He addressed the huge dragon after hearing Mew say its name. "I don't like your attitude and I don't know what's going on but it wasn't my choice to just go trespassing through your dimension. But Mew's right when it said I was only looking for friend. As a matter of fact if you've seen him, a black and red hedgehog that looks alot like me, I would love to leave you alone once I get him. "

Palkia was silent a moment as it seemed to stare at the small blue hedgehog who didn't seem in the least bit intimidated at all.

" _You… your related to the other one aren't you?"_ It said slowly. " _You're the ones that go flitting through my dimensions all the time!"_ It didn't seem to care about the hedgehogs reason for being here.

 _What is it talking about?_ Sonic never recalled going through dimensions and seeing the dragon there. In fact until today he had never seen nor heard of Palkia.

" _I've been looking for you. I don't know how many of you there are but you all seem to originate from the same dimension. It's only for a few moments but I see you and sense you crossing Dialga's as well as my domain using an energy similar to aura."_

 _Uh oh I didn't realize there were other creatures with the ability to control space and time outside of our own world or that me and my friends would anger them by using chaos control._ Sonic thought. Next to him Mew was a bit nervous. Every moment they spent talking to the dragon seemed to reveal that Palkia doesn't plan on letting this go.

" _You and your look-a-like may have evaded Dialga and I for a long time but I made sure to punish one of you for it."_ That immediately got the speedster attention. Could it be that Palkia was responsible for attacking, kidnapping, and possibly injuring his rival. Well he was about to find out.

"What did you do to Shadow you overgrown lizard!"

" _That is none of your concern. As the keeper of space that exists between all dimensions you will recieve punishment as an incentive never to tresspass again!"_ It bellowed making both Mew and Sonic flinch at the sound. It held its hands apart from each other and reared them back as a blue sphere formed in the space between.

" _This way!"_ Mew said recognizing one of Palkia's attacks easily. Sonic was a bit reluctant to follow after hearing that the dragon may have hurt the blsck hedgehog but he knew this was a fight he wouldn't win without the chaos emeralds. The little pink cat took off as fast as it could with the blue hedgehog following behind closely. They had just managed to miss the aura sphere as it came hurtling right at them destroying the ground they had just stood on into hundreds of different pieces.

Palkia, wasting no time in pursuing its targets, extended its wing like appendages and picked up a good amount of speed. It continued to launch an assault of aura spheres like a machine in a batting cage. The blue hedgehog thinking he saw an opportunity to attack made a quick u-turn and used all the broken up rocks to create a path jumping them all at incredible speeds that even the legendary water dragon had trouble keeping up with. Sonic launched into homing attack after homing attack hoping to at least do a little damage to slow it down but the hard scales of its body proved too strong to scratch. He aimed for its head putting all his strength into the attack and landing a blow on top of its head. It was a direct hit but Palkia shook it off breaking the heroes momentum and leaving him in midair.

To his surprise it wasn't an aura sphere that hit but rather a powerful gush of water from its mouth hitting Sonic head on and smacking him through a slab of floating rock with great force. The impact was great enough knock him out cold as he fell onto a smaller slab that was luckily right below him.

Palkia gave a fearsome roar believing that victory was near and it prepared for one of its most devastating attacks...Spacial Rend.

Mew had saw the hydro pump hit home and it also had a feeling the blue hero wouldn't be able to endure it and rushed over quickly. Palkia saw the little pink pokemon fly into its line of fire but it couldn't care less at the moment. It continued to charge up the spacial rend as it seemed to disappear in a black spiraling void. It was now or never and Mew knew that there was only one thing it could do. It made sure that it was touching the azure hedgehog and teleported. Palkia had _broken_ the space where Mew and the blue hedgehog had been as that particular area of the spatial dimension had become destabilized shattering like glass that had been cut by something sharp.

"NOOO!" It roared outraged that it had allowed them to leave the spatial dimension unscathed. Eventually it calmed down as it realized that the space around it was also starting to destabilize with its change in emotion. It focused on repairing the damaged space from its attack.

" _Mark my words Mew, if I ever catch you or that creature in the spatial dimension again, I will not hesitate to attack. Judgement comes to all those who deserve it._ "

And as it finished stabilizing space it flew off in the distance into another rift silence following once again in its wake.

* * *

 **So tell me how was it? I hope this encourages those of you who are new to follow and favorite me, I mean two legendary pokemon appearences in one chapter gotta be interesting right? For those of you wondering why Sonic can all of a sudden hear what Mew and Palkia were saying, I'll explain that in more detail later and you might be able to sort of figure it out in the next few chapters if I don't end up outright explaining it. And of course if you have suggestions, ideas, or criticism I'll be glad to take them.**


	5. Sealing the Bond of Pokemon and Trainer

**Over the last few days I think I've been getting quite a bit of attention for this story which I'm excited about. If this story goes well I might consider doing a sequel in Sinnoh because so far its one of my favorite regions and I happen to know more about it than Hoenn. I'm secretly hoping in the future it gets remade in 3D because to me that would be awesome. This chapter will mark one of two important events in this story! And it's something you all have dreamed of and wished for in other fics but either it didn't happen or the story just stopped getting updates which made you sad because you wanted more. Lucky for you all Auntie Roxa wanted to have it happen too. Also I've been debating on whether I should split this story into two halves rather than just have one whole story in which I alternate between both sides every few chapters. I can see pros and cons to doing it either way but it'd be nice to know what you think.**

 **Enjoy!**

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Chapter 5: Forging the Bond Between Pokemon and Trainer

Cynthia was happy to see that Professor Birch had no other problems with Shadow. Since coming back to the lab he allowed the professor to recheck his injuries and perform a few more tests, although the hedgehog seemed reluctant to take orders from anyone but Cynthia. Birch paid it no mind as some pokemon are known to be selective when it comes to personal preference. Actually the professor was glad that he was beginning to behave this way because it meant the hedgehogs impression on humans was not as bad as he originally thought.

"All done Shadow." Birch said logging in the last bit of data while the black pokemon put on its gloves and shoes. Now that he had a day of rest, he was feeling fully recovered and looked around for the blonde woman but during the rest of the tests she must have gone somewhere. Shadow frowned at this but figured that Cynthia had something important to do and shrugged it off. "You know for a pokemon that's able to talk you sure are quiet." Birch said.

"...I don't have much to say." Shadow spoke offhandedly. And in all honesty he didn't. How could he after all, he had no memory of who he used to be. He had a feeling that he might not have been the talkative type before hand and even though he still had a lot of unanswered questions he didn't feel like it was the right time to ask.

"You know, I can't help but wonder how you ended up captured by Team Magma." It was a good question really and Shadow didn't mind sharing the answer.

"I woke up with no memory of who I was somewhere near the shore. I stumbled around for a bit until one of their guards saw me roaming around. I was taken into their base by force promptly after where they interrogated then experimented on me." Shadow said remembering those moments as if they were yesterday. He remembered his mind feeling empty and his body hurting like it was used as a punching bag. And though he didn't admit it, he also remembered the fear he felt just before they took him out of a cage for experimentation. He certainly didn't want to go back which is partially why he chose to trust Cynthia and Professor Birch. He figured they could help keep him from being Team Magma's lab rat again.

"Do you know why they were experimenting on you? "

Shadow thought back to all the times he was conscious enough to hear what some of the grunts were saying.

 _"Why are we keeping this unknown pokemon anyway? Wouldn't it be worth more to us to sell it to a poacher or hunter? I bet Hunter J and her associates from Sinnoh would pay nicely to have this pokemon in her catalogue."_

 _"You idiot. Weren't you listening to anything the boss said? This pokemon could finally help us achieve our goal of securing a greater future for mankind. There would be no point in selling it."_

 _"But I thought that was the purpose of the red orb...to awaken Groudon?"_

 _"It still is but this pokemon will simply...assist us with that."_

"Shadow? Is something wrong?" Birch asked concerned when the hedgehog became quiet.

"They went on and on about using me to help them awaken a Groudon." The black pokemon felt a bit of anger from knowing that it was just some tool to Team Magma. For some reason the feeling of being used for someones elses benefit felt familiar but whenever he tried to figure out why, his mind just went blank.

Birch tensed in hearing the name of the legendary ground pokemon. As a part of his work to study how pokemon behave in certain environments he had to learn all about the creation trio and their impact upon their world. He knew Team Magma was up to something but awakening groudon for their own purposes? This was news indeed and it gets even worse if their counterparts Team Aqua are trying to attempt something similar. Now Birch understood just how important it is to keep the hedgehog safe at all costs.

"What does it mean? What is a Groudon?" Shadow asked beginning to realize he was apart of something much larger. The pokemon professor took a deep breath before addressing the crimson streaked hedgehog again.

"It means things just became much more problematic than before." Other than that the professor wouldn't reveal anymore info to the black pokemon. It would be hard to explain the ambitions of one the most notorious teams in the Hoenn region to someone who never really understood anything about their world in the first place. Besides as an expert who's always looking out for other pokemon he didn't want to give the hedgehog so much to worry about. As a matter of fact the professor thought that now would be the perfect time to learn more about his new companion while letting him get some fresh air.

"Hey Shadow," he said smiling as he saw two black ears twitch at the sound of his name. "How would you like to accompany me while I do some field work. This little fiasco has put me a little behind in my research and I can tell you more about the Hoenn region since Cynthia won't be back for a bit."

Shadow already sick of sitting around doing nothing decided that this would be as good a time as any to start gaining new knowledge. He nodded his head in a silent reply as Birch began gathering materials.

* * *

"Commander Jenny I understand how you must feel about the safety and security of both people and pokemon in light of Team Magma's ambitions but I ask that you hear out my reasons." Cynthia was on route 101 a little ways from the lab talking with Jenny on the phone. Since the moment she rescued Shadow up until now she had felt that he was no ordinary pokemon and she had intentions even then to take him under her wing. Jenny had wanted to keep the hedgehog secure in a safe area where he could be monitored and protected but Cynthia just _knew_ that wasn't an option.

"Shadow won't stay in a secure area. He already has problems trusting others. If you try to contain him it will be too similar to Team Magma's actions. In the end he would only run away feeling angrier than before. " The champion argued feeling strongly for the pokemon.

"Cynthia I know that you're just looking out for him but the risk of Team Magma getting their hands on him is too great and we still know next to nothing about his importance in all of this. "

"That's why I need you to trust me with his well being. I am more than capable of battling Maxie and winning against him and his underlings." The blondes passion for pokemon was really fired up now and Jenny doesn't have any water to douse it. "If you are so worried about him being taken then allow me to train him. As a trainer I have always brought out the best in all my pokemon and Shadow will be no different. "

Commander Jenny was expecting Cynthia to do something like this but it still surprised her to hear it said. "What are you saying, that training him to be stronger will prevent his capture?"

"Yes. We have already established that there are many things about this we don't understand but sitting around waiting will not fill in those holes. In his case strengthening the body will strengthen the mind and that will put confidence in his abilities until his memory returns. Otherwise we will have a repeat of what happened before."

Jenny could continue to argue but Cynthia is a very passionate person whose mind is almost impossible to change. The blonde heard the commander sigh through the phone a sure sign that she was about to give up. "Alright Cynthia I won't doubt your abilities or decisions since you are an experienced trainer however I ask that you do one thing for me."

When she finished explaining her only condition, Cynthia agreed to uphold it no matter what. "Thank you Commander Jenny."

 _Just don't make me regret this Cynthia._

* * *

As Shadow sat in the passenger side of the vehicle he couldn't deny that his curiosity was growing every second. The professor was explaining how people and pokemon live, play, battle, and grow together. Of course Birch had to explain everything with such specific detail because Shadow had absolutely no knowledge to begin with. However the black hedgehog clearly seemed to be enjoying himself even if he didn't show it. It was very subtle but every once in a while the hedgehog would smile a bit as the wind whipped through his quills.

After being cooped up in the lab so long, being outside was sort of like a little piece of heaven especially when no one was trying to attack you.

Birch stopped his vehicle near a large building with an enclosure behind it marked with a fence. It was large enough that even the ebony hedgehog couldn't see where the fence ended. "This is where I come to study pokemon up close in the field. The other scientists and I take special care to make sure the pokemon in the enclosure stay happy and healthy." Birch had taken out a notebook and a pen as the black pokemon got out of the car.

"Isn't studying wild pokemon up close dangerous?" Shadow asked following behind the professor as they entered the building. There were several other scientists working here as well. There were shelves lined with tons of jars of different shapes and sizes and various berries sorted and organized together in other containers. It was very similar to Birch's lab except much bigger and much busier. However, the lab wasn't the main focus of the black pokemons attention as several of the scientists who greeted Birch kept staring him. Luckily the professor could pick up on his unease and continued leading the hedgehog through to the enclosure.

"Sometimes it is, in fact I've had quite a few run ins with pokemon who weren't so friendly but really there's nothing better than doing work in the field. It gives the best experience in truly understanding certain pokemon." _And hopefully maybe it'll give some insight into understanding you too Shadow._

So far Shadow had understood that pokemon needed people to grow and vice versa. At first he thought the relationship was similar to something like a pet and owner but Birch explained differently. He had thought back to Cynthia and how easy it was for him to trust her. The professor, Cynthia, and Team Magma had all called him a pokemon so was he one? And if so would that be the reason why he felt so much safer around her. _Am I behaving like a pokemon because I am one?_ Well if he was then there is no one in the world he would want more as his trainer than Cynthia.

Birch had taken up residence on a high branch in a tree scribbling notes as he watched a few Taillow on the branches just above him. The pokemon in the area were so used to seeing Birch that they didn't seem to mind the overly friendly professors presence. Shadow who decided to stay on the ground in the shade, leaned against the tree as he watched the other pokemon play happily. The brown haired professor had taught him the names of a few them and he found all them quite strange. He saw a trio of psyduck holding their heads near the pond occasionally looking at each other with a rather dumb expression on their faces. Their was a doduo plucking berries from a berry bush in a content manner. And although they didn't always surface long he also saw magikarp, goldeen, and staryu jumping up playfully splashing anything near them as they dove back into the water.

A rustling noise from up in the tree had began shaking several leaves that landed down on the ebony and crimson streaked head below. When the figure that had been causing the disturbance up above revealed itself, Shadow had quickly gotten off the tree to to face it seeing the white fur coat of a vigoroth using one of its long arms to hang down from one of the lower branches.

Black and red striped quills bristled on instinct as their owner does not like being surprised. Vigoroth didn't seem to mean any harm as it held out a round dark blue berry in its red palm out to the hedgehog as a token of friendship.

"It's alright Shadow." The professor said who saw the vigoroth when it moved. "That Vigoroth is quite friendly. It's been known to give other pokemon berries as a way to befriend them." Shadow took the berry from the white furred pokemon as it seemed to chatter a bit about how happy it was but before his sensitive ears could make it out what it was saying something huge rammed itself into the tree causing all the bird pokemon to flee. The vigoroth that Shadow had just met had fallen out of the tree and ran when it saw what was on the other side of the trunk. Birch had ungracefully lost his balance and also fell when he felt the tree shake violently.

"Professor!" The black pokemon had went to Birches side when he fell.

"What in the world?" He sat up rubbing his back. His notes and papers were scattered all about him. When the hedgehog saw the professor was alright he had sprinted around the tree to see what had slammed in to it. There were two pokemon that stood on all fours. One looked like it had steel armor on its back. The other had a horn on its snout and looked like it was chiseled out of rock.

"This is bad. Lairon and Rhyhorn are both known to have tempers when angered. I can only guess Lairon started a fight when it felt its territory was being threatened. " He said after rejoining the black hedgehogs side. He started digging through his bag for something before realizing he had left it behind. _The pokeballs containing the starters aren't here! Of all the times to forget them._

"Shadow listen, I know you've only just recovered but if we don't stop their fighting now I'm worried they could hurt the other pokemon around them and themselves." Just as he said that the Rhyhorn had made another charge at the Lairon. It was like an unstoppable boulder ready to break down any wall in its way. Several pokemon who were near jumped fearfully out of the way as it tilted its horn down to ram into its opponent.

"So can you do it?" Watching the both the steel and rock pokemon go head to head would be a little intimidating for any creature as a loud sound of impact was all it took to know both were packing lots of power but Shadow felt confident he could do it. Deep down he just knew he could and felt his confidence became stronger every moment. Without another word he took off skates allowing him to glide over the grassy terrain and close the distance within seconds. Right before the two creatures could prepare to butt head against horn again Shadow used the momentum from his dash to spin at incredible speeds spraying grass, dirt, and rocks all in the opposite direction as he went and collided with the side of the Lairons steel armored face. Although the speed at which the blow made contact was great the move itself did not do much damage to the bulky and extremely defensive pokemon. It did however succeed in getting the pokemons attention. Lairon gave an angry roar at Shadow but the black pokemon held its ground. The steel type became engulfed by a white light this time it prepared to charge its new target.

"Watch out Shadow thats iron head!" The professor shouted watching the entire fight from a distance. The black pokemon wanting to test his strength held out both hands ready to take the attack. When it made contact it appeared that the hedgehog was able to withstand it but he lost his footing after sliding backwards a good distance and felt the full brunt of the attack. The iron head hit and it felt like being rammed by a slab of metal. The black and red hedgehog stood a bit wobbly as the impact was enough to disorient him a bit. He recovered just in time to see the Rhyhorn charging in with take down at full speed. The ebony pokemon felt a spike of anger and crimson orbs set themselves into a fiery glare towards the Rhyhorn who surprisingly stopped in its tracks as its body seemed to lock up as if it was paralyzed. The Lairon had taken advantage of the moment to charge once again this time the claws on its feet began to glow as it clearly was looking to land a blow with metal claw. This time though Shadow was ready he built his speed first by rolling out before getting some lift. Once he was in midair he stopped spinning and thrust his foot forward the first kick landing solidly between two blue eyes. It completely stopped the momentum the steel pokemon gained. The second kick also landed nicely and the Lairon slid back a few inches. The first kick was strong but the second one seemed to do even more now that the steel type had no momentum to take the impact.

The Lairon had finally had enough. It was tired after charging around so much and any anger that it had from earlier had finally cooled down. It turned away from the hedgehog and walked off its heavy footsteps fading the farther away it went. The Rhyhorn that had also been paralyzed by Shadows glare had also decided it had enough and left as well.

The crimson eyed hedgehog shortly returned to a impressed Birches side feeling a bit of pride inside. "That was amazing Shadow! You battled those two pokemon like you've had years of experience." Black and red arms crossed each other as the hedgehog looked away and Birch thought he saw a bit of bashfulness?

"I just acted on instinct thats all."

"Well either way it was an impressive battle." Birch checked the time on his watch before placing his notes in his bag. "What do you say we head back to the lab and see if Cynthia's back." The kindhearted professor gave a warm smile to the hedgehog who couldn't help but feel happy at the mention of Cynthia's name again.

When they reached the lab they saw that Cynthia was indeed back and she had been patiently waiting outside for both of them to return.

"Did you enjoy the ride with professor Birch? "Cynthia smiled at the hedgehog getting out of the car. The black hedgehog simply nodded staring at the silver eyed trainer.

Cynthia looked to Birch with a look that spoke volumes. "Can you give us a moment I wanted to speak to Shadow alone." Birch nodded he had work to do anyway. Although he was a bit curious as to what the Champion would speak to Shadow about.

As soon as he left, Cynthia bent down on one knee, her black fur lined coat draping around her. Despite wearing heels her movements were quite graceful. Shadow vaguely wondered if her other pokemon took after her personality in anyway.

"Shadow, I had a talk with Jenny earlier..." she began. _So thats where she's been._ "I convinced her to let you stay with me as your trainer...that is if you desire it. I know you haven't known me long but you don't seem like the type to sit around and wait." Cynthia had Shadow's attention from the moment she had started talking and his eyes had slightly widened when she spoke of being his trainer. It was something he had just been thinking about and now he had an opportunity to go through with it.

"As your trainer I promise not only to make you stronger but also ensure that Maxie never gets to use you as a tool." She was watching his reaction carefully now but he was hard to read. It's like whoever he was before had mastered the poker face.

On the surface he looked expressionless but underneath it he could feel the very mention of it exciting. Cynthia had gently grasped his hands and pressed them together in between hers. The gesture was small but full of affection that seemed so foreign to the black pokemon. He was getting another feeling of deja vu like this had happened before but when he searched his mind the memory was still out of reach but it was definitely associated with something happy.

"So will you come with me my dear Shadow?" She asked waiting for an answer. Shadow looked into her silvery eyes and blushed for some reason. It was just for a second but he had seen the face of a blonde girl with kind blue eyes so similar to Cynthia's silver ones. He found himself nodding his head still embarrassed with the way Cynthia had addressed him.

Cynthia smiled, a small twinkle in her eyes as she took out a special poke ball. It was a fastball but it looked slightly different: instead of having a red and yellow color scheme it had a black and red color scheme that seemed even more fitting for the black hedgehog.

He didn't even hesitate to press the little button at the front of the pokeball which engulfed him in a red light before disappearing inside. Cynthia watched as the fastball moved slightly from side to side as the little red light blinked until it finally stopped. The Sinnoh League Champion couldn't be happier she hadn't had a new pokemon to train in a long time. She wondered what new surprises the mysterious black pokemon would show her next.

* * *

 **FINALLY! Shadow belongs to a trainer now. I read maybe only two other fics in which something like this happened but they just stopped updating which made me sad. I know all of you who have wanted this will certainly enjoy reading the rest of the story now. Anyway heres a fun fact you may or may not have heard of. Cynthia's personality is actually based on the Greek Goddess Artemis who was born on Mount Cynthus.(Hmm Cynthus, Cynthia thats pretty obvious I guess...) In myths Artemis symbolized birth which makes sense for Cynthia's character since in HeartGold and SoulSilver she witnessed the birth of an egg and in Platinum gives the player a togepi egg. Cynthia was also surrounded by female friends in the manga(which I have yet to read...) which represents her role as protector of women which is probably why all her Pokemon except for Lucario are female. (I'm surprised Spiritomb isn't gender-less :O) Artemis was a skillful hunter and Cynthia is a skillful battler! Go figure. I'm not entirely sure how accurate this info is but it makes sense to me. It's also kind of cool to think of Cynthia as goddess like. Good work Nintendo!**


	6. Welcome to the World of Pokemon!

**Yo! I know its been a lot longer than you guys would have liked me to update but I swear I was banging my head against the wall to finish this one. Luckily I'm pretty satisfied with this chapter and I'm eager to know what you guys think of the OC that you will finally get to meet. Plus this is the longest chapter I've written so far so you get more for waiting around to read it. Also by the time Sonic reaches the pokemon world five days have passed since Cynthia and Shadow left Birches lab. Traveling through dimensions means a difference in time.**

 **My response to a few of your reviews:**

 **supersonic: Ok so maybe it is a big shock to some of you to have Shadow caught but there are reasons why I did it. If you think about it, when you transfer Shadow or Sonics abilities over to pokemon there are quite a few "walls" to their usual strategy of using their speed to overcome their opponent. Examples: Paralysis, Burn (lowers attack), attacks that lower speed (string shot, sticky web, bubblebeam), priority moves (protect, detect, sucker punch), undodgeable moves (swift, faint attack), weather damage, flinching, moves that have nothing to do with a pokemon's speed but still pose a threat (Perish song, pain split, endeavor, destiny bond), entry hazards (stealth rock, spikes), battlefields (ice, sand, and water), rough skin and or rocky helmet damage, heres a big one, Trick Room. And there are probably more but my point is that with no knowledge of pokemon types, moves, or abilities they would have an extremely difficult time getting through the region without a partner to help strategize around it all. And since the fic will focus on journey aspects as well as the main conflict that means there will be pokemon battles and it would be boring to see only other pokemon battle instead of our two favorite hedgies. I think it would be unfair to use a pokemon you have not caught or registered to battle with unless it somehow pertains to the story and you can still make it enjoyable while keeping to most of both worlds logic. And yes that place where Palkia, Sonic and Mew were in is called the Spatial Dimension as is in Palkia's dex entry.**

 **Matt: Have Sonic be a flying type? That's an interesting and unique suggestion but in all honesty I don't think it reflects his fighting style accurately. But I do have something in mind to help with his fear of water, but that's later.**

 **I apologize for any mistakes as my new reader got busy but hopefully in the future he'll have more time to read and edit my chapters. I hadn't planned on taking this long to update this chapter but oh well. Better late than never they say.**

* * *

Chapter 6:Welcome to the World Of Pokemon!

Mew was a little worried about its new companion. When he fainted after suffering a direct hit from Palkia it thought maybe the hedgehog was more injured than it thought. It floated above him impatient to see it awaken and get back up on its feet. The two of them were in an unfamiliar area. Mew had made a bed of leaves for the hedgehog to sleep on not sure what else it could do to make him comfortable. When the azure hedgehog began to stir in his sleep Mew moved close, its excitement growing.

Blue lids opened to reveal emerald eyes whose blurry vision caught sight of something pink. When his vision became more focused he sat up quickly, the events that occurred last flashing through his mind.

 _The dimensional portal...a spaceless void...a huge water dragon attacking...that pink cat thing..._

 _"You're awake. I'm so happy! I was worried you were more hurt than you looked._ " Mew spoke in a cheery voice flying around the hedgehog happily. It took awhile for Sonic to register where he was but once he did the events that occurred in the spatial dimension all came back crystal clear and he sat up quickly his senses fully awakened now.

"Mew...I...what happened? I remembered you talking to that huge dragon, Palkia I think. And then it chased us and we were running away and then I got hit with water and it all goes black from there." Sonic said standing as he took in the sight and sounds of a forest.

" _Palkia knocked you out so I teleported you here before it could attack again._ "

"Thanks a lot Mew but where exactly is here?" While emerald eyes scanned the area he caught a bit of movement out of the corner of his eyes. It looked like something small, furry, and brown but it moved before he could tell what it was.

Mew looked like it was about to say something more but footsteps and rustling leaves made both of them turn to focus on the noise.

"Now if I continue on this route it should take me straight to LittleRoot town- huh?" Walking towards the two unsuspecting pokemon was a kid. He had auburn hair that was neither short nor long but something in between and brown eyes. His clothing consisted of a black shirt with one white fringed striped pointing up from the bottom of his v-neck. He wore an emerald green jacket that stopped inches before his waist and a hood and short sleeves like a T-shirt. He had white shorts that went past his knees and black and white converse. The last things he wore were were black and white fingerless gloves, a black backpack with red lined edges and a green bandana tied around his arm that had the black outlines of pokeballs all over it.

Right now the kid was a bit dumbstruck unable recognize either of the two pokemon in front of him. He stood there frozen on the spot not sure how to approach but all the more curious.

He had heard all kinds of stories about rare and powerful pokemon and he was eager to meet one despite the fact that most of them tend to hide in mysterious places and avoid trainers.

As soon as he took a step forward Mew disappeared using teleport. "Hey wait! Mew come back!" White gloved hands had reached to grab the little pink creature before it disappeared but it was too late and Mew was nowhere in sight. Sonic sighed and emerald eyes cast their gaze upon the auburn haired kid with slight annoyance as he crossed his arms. The kid was too busy staring at the hedgehog who just spoke not really noticing the expression. He honestly thought his ears were playing tricks on him until the azure creature spoke again.

"Now look what ya did. Mew was my only help in this strange dimension and now it's gone." When he got no response from the boy he just rolled his eyes. "If you keep standing there like that with your mouth open you're gonna catch flies."

"Right… You can talk?" he said dumbly.

"Well considering that the last things that came out of my mouth weren't chirps, woofs, or meows yeah I think I can talk. " And he paused for effect. "Of course I can talk. Why wouldn't I be able to?" He answered like the kid had asked why water is wet or why the sky is blue. To Sonic it felt like a very dumb question but he had to remember he was in another dimension and things could be very different here.

The hedgehogs smart tone had snapped whatever trance the kid had been under as he tried to make sense of what was happening here. He had actually found a talking pokemon which was amazing! It was a shame he didn't have any pokemon of his own yet or he would've wasted no time trying to catch it.

"Well if you don't mind I kinda have something I need to do." The azure hedgehog turned away preparing to take off into the forest when he was stopped.

"Hold on!" The brown eyed kid said quickly coming closer to the strange creature. "You said you needed help didn't you?" Sonic paused something he rarely did to look at the kids face. He seemed a bit overeager to help and while he could have ran off and started looking for Shadow on his own he didn't fancy running into something like Palkia again and he was getting kinda hungry too.

"Well that depends, do you have any chili dogs?"

* * *

Meanwhile in an underwater base…

"So Maxie thinks he can get away with this does he?" A broad figure sat in a chair watching recorded clips from one of the golbat sent out to keep an eye on Team Magma. He smiled rubbing his beard while deep in thought.

Behind him stood a tall woman with dark toned skin and long black hair curved out to the sides. A few pieces of her hair were a sea blue with matching blue eyes and she wore white and yellow goggles on her head. Her outfit which was a tad bit revealing had long sleeves and a white symbol on her chest area. She wore long blue pants that only showed a bit of her thigh on the sides. The woman placed a hand on her hip as she too admired the work of Team Magma who tried oh so hard to keep the pokemon they found hidden in one of their most secure bases. She help couldn't but give a small laugh as she saw Cynthia confronting the stout man as he put on his best poker face.

"What shall we do it about it, Archie? The more time you spend watching video feeds of Team Magma's actions the more I noticed your interest was peeked," the woman said finding the matter just as curious as he did.

Archie sat back in his chair and closed his eyes. Though it did not progress his own plans he did somewhat enjoy screwing up Maxie's. The two leaders had a bit of a rivalry of their own between them ever since they can remember. Over the years they have spent countless times searching for ways to find Groudon and Kyogre so that they could use their power to make their ambitions a reality. If one of them seemed to be getting close to a discovery, then the other butted in or stole information for themselves. It wasn't too long ago that the two had found the orbs needed to control two of the legendary pokemon of Hoenn's trio. But after that they had come to a bit of a wall. They did not understand much about the orbs or how they worked and many times were unsuccessful in activating them.

Archie stood up and faced Shelly, one of the Admins of Team Aqua. "I tell you what we're going to do Shelley. We're going to have a closer look at this pokemon Maxie wanted so badly for himself." He had taken the blue orb out from his collar and gave it a long look while walking past Shelley. "And then we're going to go pay Maxie a visit."

Already the leader of Team Aqua was thinking up all sorts of possibilities that are suddenly possible after witnessing Maxies intentions. Using a pokemon with an ability to harness a different kind of energy seemed brilliant. It could be just the thing for activating the blue orb and he was bent on reaching this result first.

 _Now where could I find another pokemon like that?_

* * *

Oldale town wasn't much to look at but it was certainly very peaceful and and quiet. The town smelled freshly of flowers as the the people who lived liked to liven up the atmosphere with colorful bunches. It was this town that the blue hero and the boy whose name he had learned was Callen had casually walked into.

"Remind me again why I'm wearing this hoodie that happens to be a bit itchy?" Sonic said only use to wearing his white gloves and shoes. The navy blue hoodie covered most of his body except his legs and was just big enough to cover his quills although he had to lower his ears to make it easier to stay on. He walked beside Callen who seemed to have a rather relaxed expression on his face despite Sonics slight discomfort with his hands in the hoodie's pockets.

"Because if people saw you, you would draw a lot of attention and that would be a problem." There were some men working on an old lady's house and a young girl who was using a wailmer pail to water the flowers in the center of town marked off by a fence. Despite Callens warning Sonic didn't seem to think there was anything wrong with getting a bit of attention. Hiding from others just wasn't his style but he listened to the kid anyway since he promised to buy him some food.

After entering the pokemon center and getting something to eat Callen felt like it was great time to start asking some questions that had been bothering him since the moment he saw the blue hedgehog.

"Sonic right? If you don't mind me asking, who was that pokemon you were with earlier?" He sat back in the booth with his arms crossed, his bag right beside him. The blue blur had munched on another french fry a little disappointed that he didn't get a chili dog but none the less grateful.

"Mew I think. And it was helping me escape from some large dragon with anger issues."

"A dragon? What did it look like?"

"White, purple, wings on its back, pearls on its shoulders, something like that." The brown eyed trainer could not place a picture with any of the things Sonic had said. He had never heard of pokemon like that but it peeked his interest all the more.

"So then what are you, and where did you come from?"

"What are you Sherlock Holmes? You keep asking questions like you're interrogating me. Did I do something bad?" He joked smirking at the kid.

"Sorry I-"

"Don't worry about it. I don't mind since it is about me. Besides you did buy me food. Anyways to answer your question, I'm a hedgehog and I came here in search of a friend of mine." Sonic ended up telling Callen quite a bit about himself and where he came from and what Shadow looked like. Seeking to go on an adventure himself, the soon to be trainer listened intently. However the more the hedgehog went on the more unrealistic and unbelievable it started to sound.

"No way you've got to be making this stuff up. C'mon water gods of destruction, Zeti, a fat egg shaped man."

"Do you honestly think someone with a face like this would lie to you?" Emerald eyes seemed to give off a glint as their owner pointed his thumb at himself.

"I wouldn't know. Is it natural for talking blue hedgehogs to tell tales taller than their height."

"About as natural as it is for a 15 year old to talk about a hedgehog when his hair looks almost as spiky as mine."

"What do you mean, my hair looks- Ow!" The kid rubbed his leg from being savagely kicked and the blue hero had managed to reach over with incredible speed and mess with his hair so that it spiked up in a ridiculous way. Sonic looked at his master piece and chuckled and after Callen realized what happened he found himself laughing as well. Unfortunately their laughter was cut short when a person with purple hair wearing a lab coat came rushing into the Pokemon center asking for help. Sonic and Callen who had snapped to attention looked on as the scientist began asking the few people who were in the center for help. However, it seemed the other trainers either didn't have healthy pokemon or simply didn't want to help.

Eventually he came rushing over to Sonic and Callens table. "Please I need help! A strange man in blue attire stole something important from our lab and I need to get it back."

Sonic had slid out of the booth and stood up. He was ready for a bit of action and this seemed like just what he needed. Besides he's never been one to ignore someone who needs help, no matter what dimension he was in.

"Tell me where he went."

"He was in route 103 north of this town. Thank you so-" And before he could finish the mysterious stranger whom he assumed was human had took off faster than anything he had ever seen.

"Sonic wait don't run off on your own!" Callen who took longer to react had quickly put his backpack on and ran out the center past the stunned scientist as well.

"-much?" The purple haired scientist stood there unmoving for a few more moments. Their was only one other pokemon he had seen that could move that fast or at least that's what he thought.

* * *

"That was too easy." Black gloves twirled what looked like a flash drive on a lanyard around his hand. He wore a white and blue striped shirt with light blue pants and a black sash around his waist. The white symbol of team aqua was proudly displayed on the black cap he wore on his head. He was just on his way to the motor boat situated on the end of route 103 when something blue and fast made a trail of dust right in front of him. He lifted his arm to his face to avoid the cloud of dirt wondering what it was that came out of nowhere.

"You know it seems like no matter where I go I always find petty thieves like you who really ruin a guys day." When the dust cleared Sonic stood there arms crossed, his confidence beginning to come off in waves. He had discarded the hoodie somewhere along the way revealing every inch of him for all to see.

"Wha- What kind of pokemon are you?"

"I don't know about being a pokemon but I do know that if you don't give back what took your going to get a major lesson in beat down 101.."

" Pest! Well if that's the way you wanna be then I'll just have to show what happens when you mess with Team Aqua!"

He took out a pokeball and tossed it to reveal a crawfish like pokemon with pincers like a crab and yellow star on its head. "Crawdaunt show this talking furball that he just made the biggest mistake of his life!"

"Bubble beam!" The crawfish pokemon opens one of its pincers shooting a stream of bubbles towards Sonic. The azure hedgehog easily side stepped before rushing in to attack. He became nothing but a light blue streak as his attacks hit one after another. The grunt was surprised to say the least. He had never battled such a fast pokemon before but he wasn't about to let it end so easily.

"Harden." Just when Sonic thought his consecutive attacks were about to end things he noticed that the red pokemons shell suddenly seemed a lot harder to hit all of sudden. He leapt back after one last hit with a bit of a serious expression on his face.

"Feeling a little less confident are we? You should be, I work hard to develop my Crawdaunts defense so that it can stand up to all kinds of attacks. "

"You should have worked hard to develop your instincts so you know how much I care." He jumped toward a tree and bounced off ready to deliver a kick from the air.

"Use crabhammer on the ground. " One of the Crawdaunts pincers began glowing white before it promptly slammed it down on the ground with a large amount of force sending small pieces of rock flying in Sonic's direction. Peach arms crossed each other in attempt to shield his face and body from the rock shards in mid air which gave him a few cuts before quickly using the rest of his momentum to spin into deadly ball of spikes.

"Use crabhammer to knock it back." The impact of crabhammer and the blue hero's spin dash were quite equal and while Sonic was sent backwards, he came out unharmed. The team aqua grunt gave the hedgehog a condescending look as if suspecting he would be surprised or stunned but he wasn't.

"Neat tricks but I've seen better." He was a bit miffed that his opponent had some kind of move that lessened the damage of his normal kicks and punches and that his spin dash was knocked back so easily but he still felt he had the upper hand with his speed. He started to spin into a ball again decided to go for an attack on the ground.

Just a few feet from where Sonic and Crawdaunt were battling, Callen had finally caught up panting a bit from his sprint. He had picked up his hoodie and ran in the direction he saw the cloud of dust disappear to only to end up spectating the battle between the blue pokemon and a crawdaunt. He was finally able to see the mysterious creature in action as he dashed towards his opponent, leapt high to attack from above and showed off his athleticism. In the young 15 year olds mind he could already see all the strategies and advantages to having a pokemon like him on his team. But while he daydreamed about winning battles he noticed that the blue speedster had taken quite a bit of damage. That grunt clearly knew what he was doing and no matter how fast Sonic was if he couldn't get in any critical damage his attacks were useless. He watched as bubblebeam made contact with the hedgehogs spindash that had been slowed down by the water type attack. By the time it had reached its intended target it had slowed down enough that the dark and water type pokemon was able to stop his rotation completely with a vice grip. It was quickly followed up with a crabhammer that hit the hero hard in his midsection knocking his breath out of him and sent him sprawling across dirt and grass, and eventually through bushes close to where Callen had been watching.

Callen quickly went to the hedgehogs side noticing the scratches and bruises accumulated from fighting Crawdaunt. The six huge blue quills on his head that had been so neat and smoothed out before were in a bit of disarray. Dirt and blades of grass clung to the azure pelt, proof that his battle was turning out be a bit more challenging than he originally thought. Callen gently lifted the the hedgehog up into a sitting up position as he groaned painfully.

"Are you alright?" He asked concerned about his bruises and scrapes.

"If you mean my body then yes I'm fine, but if you mean my pride which is hurt from the fact that I'm being beaten by a seafood dinner, no, " he said still sounding quite confident which unknowingly impressed Callen quite a bit.

"I just can't seem to put a dent in that thick shell. In fact it feels like I'm running in circles, dash in, get hit, get caught, and get hit again." He rubbed his eyes, which were slightly irritated after getting dirt in them.

"Don't bother trying to hide. The moment you challenged me, I decided that I would capture you and bring you back to the boss as a gift. I'm sure he'll promote me for bringing in a rare pokemon along with the data I was sent to get." Footsteps crunched against the dirt getting louder and louder as the grunt and his partner approached taking their time.

"Listen, I think you can take him but you're going to have to change up your fighting strategy a bit." Brown eyes bore into emerald ones seriously. "I saw the way you were battling and it looks like straightforward attacks aren't going to work."

"Well I'm about to make it work," he said already moving to get back up and face the oncoming threat.

"No listen." He pulled the hedgehog's arm making him fall back on his butt.

"What?" Sonic was slowly becoming exasperated. During a tough fight he prefers action to words and he's not much for strategy so being told to wait was making him impatient.

"I think I know how you can use your speed to gain an advantage but you have to listen exactly to what I say." Sonic was about to respond but the call of another bubble beam made the two of them dash out of the way.

"Hmph. Another nuisance come to interfere...fine by me," the grunt said twirling the flash drive around before catching it again. Sonic smiled and dashed in again ready to punch, not needing any other incentive to continue the attack.

"Crawdaunt use harden again." The red and white pokemon braced itself as Sonic closed in not surprised at all when his punch didn't even make it budge. The grunt gave an evil chuckle laughing at how pointless normal attacks like that are absolutely nothing against his partner. His crawdaunt also seemed to take pride in its defensive capabilities as it sneered down at the blue blur.

"Use Vice Grip and throw it down." At the command of its trainer a red pincer grabbed a peach colored arm in an excruciatingly strong grip before throwing the blue pokemon down as hard as it could on the rough and uneven ground. Sonic felt himself get thrown down with enough force that he bounced painfully off the ground and landed on his front face down unmoving.

Callen watched as the blue and peach furred body in front of him laid flat. It was silent for a moment as both the boy, the grunt and the crawdaunt watched to see if the hedgehog would make a move. To Callen's relief Sonic began picking himself up on one knee.

 _Why am I panting? I've taken much more damage than this before from flying through buildings and taking hits from deadly robots so why does it feel like I'm tiring faster than usual._ Sonic was baffled by the fact that he was having a such a hard time. Did something happen to him when he crossed dimensions that he didn't know about? Now that he thinks about it there was something different. There was no chaos here. But he did feel something in its absence and it felt like he was running low on it.

"Sonic quick dodge it!" Blue ears immediately heard the command and Sonic jumped backwards almost before he saw it coming it, narrowly dodging a crabhammer. Sonic was taken aback at how close he had managed to let his opponent get while pondering the reason why he was weakened so fast.

"That was close. Are you alright to keep going?" Callen asked as the the hedgehog turned to look at the soon to be trainer. "I'm just fine." He gave a thumbs up and the boys worry seemed to dissolve a bit in his expression.

"I've had just about enough of playing around. Crawdaunt finish this up with a double crabhammer!" The crawfish pokemon raised both of its glowing pincers as it came in for a final strike.

"Roll out and circle around it!" Sonic was a bit confused at the command as he was preparing to make his own move against the grunts pokemon.

"What?"

"Just do it and trust me!"

The blue blur didn't know what a roll out was but he assumed the kid meant his spin dash. He curled into a ball and went charging right past the crawdaunt's double crabhammer as it struck the ground with quite a bit of force. Sonic quickly turned after passing the pokemon still in a spin dash unintentionally spraying the team aqua grunt with dirt and rocks during the drift. By the time the crawdaunt was in position to attack again Sonic spin dash was already too close and it crashed into the crawdaunt whose expression was ridden with shock. Unfortunately it was still able to withstand the attack and keep going thanks to the double harden.

 _I could have thought of that!_ He mused at how something so simple worked. It wasn't really his intention to take orders from the kid but with his sort of go with the flow attitude he didn't mind it so much. _The kid's got a rhythm going so I might as well let him enjoy it._

Callen was growing excited as adrenaline pumped through his veins. Back at the Battle Institute where he spent much of his time learning to battle with rental pokemon the intensity of each match always made him truly appreciate tough opponents. Since the moment his dad left him to explore different regions and the secrets of Mega Evolution Callen had wanted to follow behind closely in his father's footsteps. And now even though he was battling with a strange pokemon that he had never seen nor heard of before, some how he know this experience would be even more significant than all of the other battles he previously participated in.

"Sonic dash straight towards crawdaunt." The blue blur smirked, the boys excitement and determination becoming so contagious that even with all his cuts and bruises he couldn't deny that he was starting to have fun. He rushed towards the crawfish, completely aware of the threats of vice grip and crabhammer but choosing to leave it up to Callen to know what to do next.

"Crawdaunt use crabhammer on the ground again then follow up with bubblebeam!" The crawfish pokemons red pincers began glowing white once again and slammed the ground sending bigger pieces of rock flying in the approaching hedgehogs direction.

"Drift and change direction in front of it quickly." Sonic quickly put on the breaks creating a dust cloud in front of the crawdaunt which muddled its accuracy as bubblebeam went way off target clearing part of the dust. Both the team aqua grunt and crawdaunt looked around unable to sight where their opponent had sped off to. Callen just grinned and casually pointed his thumb to the right where the gust from the blue pokemon's speed cleared up the rest of the upturned dirt.

"Over here!"Crawdaunt had no time to counter attack as the hedgehogs gloved hand began flowing white and his speed seemed to increase instantaneously as he punched the crawdaunt as hard as he could. This time it was the grunts partner who was sent flying by a powerful attack.

While the grunt was yelling at his pokemon to get up and fight Sonic took a moment to look at his hand. There was nothing wrong with it but he knew that this punch felt a lot different than the other ones.

"That was amazing! I think you learned mach punch! And it was super effective!" Callen said as the hedgehog turned back to the battle. It actually sounded pretty cool to the speedster. A move that lets you throw a punch at mach speed, you could say it was right up his alley in terms of fighting style.

Crawdaunt was back on its legs but it wasn't looking too strong now. Even though the double harden that took the bite out of Sonics consecutive attacks, it still doesn't change the fact that they made contact and caused damage. And now the damage from all those attacks were starting to add up and weaken it. The grunt was not liking how the tide of the battle had suddenly changed in the kids favor. Even with the hedgehog's speed he felt that with his experience of battling other trainers well trained pokemon could accurately allow him to guess a pokemon's level. He had a feeling some how when they first began fighting that this particular pokemon's level wasn't that high. In fact he _knew_ for sure that it probably wasn't anywhere near the level his crawdaunts was and yet...he had the feeling he was about to lose.

Callen knew exactly what he was doing. The strategy he just had the hedgehog use involved using his speed to bait an attack, successfully dodge, then use the newly created opening to counter attack. It can be risky because it requires you to move within attacking range, narrowly dodge and land a blow. He knew from previous battles that he has to be certain the pokemon he was using can out speed his opponent or else he could risk losing from a point blank range move. After witnessing the hedgehogs incredible speed he knew he could easily pull off the baiting tactic easy.

"Sonic dash towards crawdaunt again!"

"Got it!" He took off straight for the dark and water type pokemon again just like last time.

"You brat, we're not falling for the same thing use bubblebeam to get high in the air." Just as Sonic was attempting to bait again he had to stop to avoid getting hit by a bubblebeam. However he knew this wouldn't stop him. He jumped high in the air surprising crawdaunt, Callen, and the grunt who had no idea the blue pokemons legs were strong enough to send him so far in the air.

If the fifteen year old wasn't impressed by this show of strength he was now as Sonic was now in the perfect position to finish this battle. "Use mach punch!" The blue hero had just had the same idea to finish things up with his new move. He felt the same energy build up in his hand turning it white and dealt the final blow. The crawdaunt went crashing down to the ground where it landed on its back, the cracked rocks around it proof of the power behind the hit. It laid there unmoving with spirals in its eyes, the sign of a fainted pokemon.

"Finally, now that that's over I think you should hand over what you took."

The team aqua grunt called his pokemon back in a red light and glared at the kid and hedgehog. He refused to accept that he had lost what should have been an easy battle but having no other pokemon he gave in. He threw the flash drive somewhere into the forest and jumped on to a one person speed boat with the team aqua symbol on it and sped away.

Sonic watched with satisfaction as the grunt was finally out of sight. When Callen came back he smiled at the hedgehog.

"Sonic you were amazing!" He said getting down on one knee to be level with emerald eyes. Before he knew it he rubbed his fingerless gloved hands through azure fur on the hedgehogs head ruffling it in a show of appreciation that he would show towards any pokemon who did well in battle.

"Hey hey, cut it out my fur and quills already lost a match with the ground. Are you trying go for round two? " Sonic was a bit annoyed at Callens sudden treatment which made him feel like a pet but he understood that the kid was just really happy that he won.

"Sorry guess I just got carried away," the auburn haired kid said rubbing the back of his neck.

"Did you get that purple haired guys stuff back?"

"Yeah its right here." He pulled out the small device attached to a lanyard for Sonic to see.

"Seems like alot of fuss for such a little thing. Well guess we better get it back before he starts to worry." The two began walking back the way they came when the blue hero suddenly collapsed to one knee, the pain of his injuries making itself known again.

Callen silently moved his back pack to his front and got down beside the azure hedgehog offering to let the injured pokemon hitch a ride on his back. "Need a lift?"

"No thanks." It would hurt Sonics pride too much to be carried around injured or not. He prefferred to walk off his injuries and act like he was fine because he can't stand others worrying about him. So imagine his surprise when Callen lifted him up anyway piggyback style and stood up forcing him to grab on to the boys shoulders.

"Hey!"

"Oh relax. You can stop playing tough guy. Besides every trainer knows its their number one duty to bring injured pokemon to a pokemon center and I'm not about to let you walk there in your condition."

"Its not even that far..." he pouted his muzzle slightly red, not used to someone showing such firm kindness and unable to do much about it. He winced as the arm that was caught in a vice grip began to sting a bit. Callen gave one last look over his shoulder to the azure hedgehog who laid his head on his back before walking back to the pokemon center.

* * *

 **So what did you think? I'm a bit nervous about how you like this one. Now that this chapter is done, the four core characters have all been introduced. This chapter also holds the first real pokemon battle between trainers. I hope you all are appreciating the moves I've give Sonic and Shadow access to. Somewhere in the next few chapters I'll include their detailed dex entries as it pertains to the world of pokemon.**


	7. I Choose You!

**Yo! How are you Sonic and Pokemon lovers doing out there. College has been so hectic for me with all these assignments and stuff but I'm still updating. I am dead set on finishing this at some point so that there's at least one Sonic and Pokemon crossover that will be finished. Anyway I heard the news that Crush 40 is apparently back together again and making a new album for 2016 I think. Some people speculate that they may be involved with the Sonic Anniversary title in 2016. I certainly hope so I freaking love Crush 40.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter 7: I Choose You!**

Callen had sat in the Pokemon centers lobby twiddling his fingers. After taking Sonic to the center and letting Nurse Joy treat him he spent the night there only to find himself eagerly awaiting the hedgehogs return the next day. He hadn't forgot his enthusiasm and excitement from yesterday about going to Birch's lab to choose a starter and it had been on his mind all morning. He honestly believed that no matter what starter he chose, he wouldn't regret the decision.

 _I don't know who to choose!_

He ruffled his hair and sighed sitting back in the booth. More than anything he couldn't put Sonic out of his mind. His speed, agility, and overall personality struck Callen as the most interesting Pokemon ever. The three starters of Hoenn seemed to pale in comparison with the blue hedgehog who he saw had so much potential. He thought about seeing if he could ask the hedgehog to be his partner but dismissed idea knowing he was too busy looking for his friend. And besides that he came off to Callen as someone whose use to being independent and free not leashed down to anyone. _Heh, after encountering a being from another dimension that's very different than my own I just made a comparison to a trainer having a Pokemon to someone being leashed_. Either way he was sure the blue hedgehog wouldn't go for it and it kind of saddened to think about it.

"Callen?", the gentle voice of nurse Joy spoke breaking him away from his thoughts. He made his way towards the counter where Sonic was waiting for him.

"Feeling better?", he asked happy to see the hedgehog had none of the bruises or cuts from yesterday's intense battle.

"Right as rain," the hero smiled giving him a thumbs up.

"Oh and Callen, Professor Birch called in to make sure you were alright. He said he heard what you and this Pokemon did for one of his fellow scientists and wants to see you right away," Nurse Joy told him.

"Oh right the professor! I almost forgot we have to return the flash drive that Team Aqua guy stole back to the lab!" Callen was so wrapped up in taking Sonic to the center that he nearly forgot he had the thing.

"He also said he wanted you to bring the Pokemon who helped you as well." Joy gave Sonic another once over. She had nearly been perplexed at how to treat the hedgehog when the young boy had brought him. It wasn't that the bruises or cuts weren't easy to treat, she just simply had no basis for the mannerisms of this new Pokemon and she certainly didn't want to do anything it wouldn't like. None the less she was happy his treatment went fine despite the fact that she almost dropped the medicine when he started talking to her. He certainly was a very interesting character.

"Right, Sonic you don't mind coming with me to meet the professor do you? Maybe he could give you some information on where your friend is if he's seen him."

To Sonic it didn't sound like such a bad idea. After all he had no idea where to even begin looking for his ebony counterpart. Running around and entire planet was one thing but an entire _dimension?_ It would take him who knows how long before he even hears any leads on where to look. "Sure, I guess I'll tag along."

* * *

Now that Sonic wasn't wearing anything to hide his appearance the people of the town were all giving the hedgehog strange looks and it didn't go unnoticed by the two. Actually the moment Callen had brought the hedgehog into the Pokemon center he had been receiving strange looks and he even had a few trainers come up to him and ask about him. Though part of him was slightly enjoying the attention he was recieving (and his ego was quite pleased about said attention he was getting even though Sonic didn't belong to him) he had to politely turn them all away when they began asking if he would trade with him. He was very careful not to mention that Sonic had not been _caught_ or else it would made another problem he would of had to deal with.

So now the two were walking side by side to the professor's lab ignoring all the stares some of the people of Little Root town were giving him. When they arrived at the lab the professor seemed to be in the middle of one his introductions to a new trainer. Both Callen and Sonic had stood by silently waiting for the professor to finish.

"As you already know, this world is widely inhabited by creatures known as Pokemon. We humans live alongside Pokemon, at times playing together as friends, and at times helping one another out. And sometimes, we just like to have fun battling others like us! But as close as we are, we don't know everything about Pokemon. In fact, there are still many, many mysteries surrounding Pokemon," he began and as he spoke that last bit he couldn't help glance over to see the blue hedgehog who had just walked in with a young boy. His eyes had widened at the similarity he could see between the black hedgehog whom he had just seen nearly a week ago but he didn't stop his introduction there.

"I do research to try to unravel those Pokemon mysteries. But that's enough about me! Now it's time for you to choose your starter Pokemon so you can begin your very own journey." He walked over to a table with three pokeballs lined up in a row and the trainer followed curiously.

"The first Pokemon is the grass type Treecko. The Pokemon in the middle is the fire Pokemon Torchic. And the Pokemon to the far right is the water Pokemon Mudkip." Callen watched as the trainer took his time deciding on what starter he would go with. It reminded him of the fact that he himself was still very indecisive about who to choose. He looked over to his left to see Sonic listening with mild interest. He seemed very curious about the whole thing but he still didn't know what his take on it was. The kid ended up choosing Mudkip and after he did he released it from its pokeball to which it happily leapt in his arms. Birch then gave the kid a badge case and Pokedex allowing him to register to enter the Pokemon League. One thing is for sure though. Sonic may not have known what the relationship between Pokemon and trainer was supposed to be like but seeing the kid happily hold the Mudkip made him happy. It was like the two had finally found each other after all this time and there's no doubt in his mind that they would become very close friends in time.

After the trainer had left, Professor Birch had turned his attention on the two who stood silently waiting for his introduction to finish.

"There you are. So you're the trainer who retrieved the valuable information stored on the flash drive from that Team Aqua fellow? ", he inquired.

"Thats right professor. Actually if it hadn't been for Sonic I probably wouldn't have been able to do much." he took the small device out of his pocket and handed it to the brown haired man who accepted it gratefully. Birch took another look at the hedgehog who held a neutral expression on his face as he looked back to the man.

"Sonic is it? My name is professor Birch and I really appreciate what you did back there although what you did may have been a bit reckless, but I'm glad you and Callen came out of it just fine."

"No problem professor this kinda stuff happens to me all the time."

It was then that Joshua, Birches assistant had walked into the room carrying a stack of papers and cast his attention to the boy and hedgehog. He immediately walked over to Sonic as he remembered the hedgehog who resembled him.

"Hey, you look just like the other one who came through here about a week ago," he said amazement filling his voice thinking he would never find another rare Pokemon quite like Shadow again, at least not for a long time.

"The other one?" Sonic asked. "Does that mean Shadow was here?"

"Indeed he was. In fact Cynthia took him with her six days ago. I hope she helps him regain his memory."

"Wait what?" Shadow had lost his memory _again_? It wasn't the best news he was hoping to hear after finding out that his rival was here. Now that he knows his memory is gone it might make things difficult. Although he and Shadow were rivals that didn't mean he immediately came to trust Sonic. In fact it took quite awhile before his rival started to trust anyone after he was awakened. If he didn't know who he was then he won't be able to recognize Sonic when he came to take him back. That meant when they met in this world, they would probably end up fighting each other again.

"Did you say Cynthia? As in the Champion Cynthia of the Sinnoh League?"Callen asked. What was the Sinnoh League champion doing in Hoenn? And what could she have to do with Sonic's friend?

"I did. And it seems she's being kept busy by Commander Jenny too."Callen couldn't believe it. He knew there was obviously something special about sticking around the hedgehog but an opportunity to meet the champion from another region? He was already imagining all the things she could teach him about pokemon. But he still had the business of choosing a starter to take care of.

"Hey professor where did Shadow go?"Sonic asked catching Callens attention unknowingly. He was eager to track down the black hedgehog so he could bring him home before his head starts filling with some crazy notion of himself.

"I'm sorry but I'm not sure where she is by now. All I can tell you is that she most likely took the route all trainers take when leaving Little Root Town and that's going toward Petalburg City." Birch couldn't help but make a note to the concern in the emerald eyes of the blue hedgehog. if he'd known a friend of his would come looking he might have tried to convince Cynthia to stay but unfortunately things just didn't turn out that way.

Before Sonic could ask where Petalburg City was located a beeping noise for one the monitors in the other room next to the lab went off indicating that someone was trying to contact the professor. "Give me a moment you two,"Birch said walking to the next room to take the call.

Callen had sat down in one of the chairs as Joshua began a conversation with Sonic. He tightened the green bandanna tied around his left arm and observed the blue hedgehog who decided to sit on one of the desks while telling the purple haired assistant more about himself. It doesn't take a scientist to figure out that Joshua was fascinated by whatever adventure the blue hedgehog was going into detail in at the moment.

"Callen?" Birch peaked his head around the corner to address the new trainer. "It's your father..."

 _My father? That's right I told him I would call him yesterday after I received my starter but with all the stuff that went on I had forgotten about that too._ The auburn haired trainer walked into the room with the monitor just as Birch left to find that his father had indeed called. The man on the monitor was a brunette with a short haircut and brown eyes a little darker than Callens. He wore a black long sleeved shirt with a turquoise vest and yellow buttons

"Hey dad, listen I'm sorry about not calling you yesterday you won't believe what happened-" The boy began scratching the back of his head nervously.

"You encountered a mysterious Pokemon."

"Uhh well yeah." The boy's eyes widened when he came to a realization. "Did you have another vision?" His father had a unique ability to see events that _could_ occur in the future but could also be liable to change. His father had told him that when he was young he had dream that he was a pokemon and after that the visions had started. He began calling this ability the dimensional scream because the way the experience makes him feel when peeking into possible events of the future.

"I did and there's much I need to tell you." The tone Callen's father took was completely serious and it made the new trainer uneasy. "A few weeks ago I had a vision of you and with a strange Pokemon that you had caught in an even stranger yellow pokeball. I did some research and learned that it was called a GS ball and found that it was in the possession of Professor Oak from Kanto. After some discussion he allowed me to borrow it and the moment I touched it, it gave me another vision of a horrible catastrophe."

"Two of Hoenn's legendary trio, Groudon and Kyogre went on a rampage breaking continents in half and raising the sea level flooding cities for miles under. The destruction was devastating. But despite that the strange Pokemon you had underwent a mega evolution unlike any I had ever seen before and began to battle them."

"Would this strange Pokemon you keep talking about happen to be blue, spiky and have green eyes."

"As matter of fact I believe it did look something like that," the man responded.

"But what does this mean? Sonic is my partner and we're supposed to fight two legendary Pokemon together?" Don't get Callen wrong having a reason to have Sonic as his partner might have been the most exciting news of his life but going up against Kyogre and Groudon was more than a bit intimidating of a task for him.

"My visions never reveal enough info to know for sure and their not guaranteed to be right but for now i would say...yes. I already made arrangements to send the GS ball to Birch. In fact it should be arriving shortly."

Callen sighed, "Sometimes I wish your visions came with a manual rather than give me unnecessary stress." his father chuckled the serious atmosphere dissipating a bit. "So do I. But listen, now that I've told you this event it might be even more likely to occur. If you follow on the path I believe you're going to take the damage done by the legendary Pokemon may be inevitable and whether or not they are stopped may depend on whether you and this Sonic you mentioned team up. I apologize for putting all this pressure on you before you even begin your journey but with all my visions there are a great deal of them that happen to come true. I wouldn't even be telling you this if it weren't for the fact that our family has had quite a few experiences with fate and destiny. " But then he began to grin as his eyes reflected a pride that lifted the boy's spirits. "However, no matter which path you choose or where it decides to take you I'll still be happy knowing my son will finally be a trainer. And if you happen to become someone very important in time well just make sure to remember your old man and your mother too."

"Thanks dad. I'll make sure to call her later." Callen's dad gave him one more smile before ending the call. The auburn haired kid had ran his hand through his hair before going to back to the lab to see the professor. The moment he entered, he and the professor shared a look.

"Wow I never would have guessed Shadow had such a history but it seems oddly fitting for him," Joshua said having had quite the conversation with the blue hedgehog. The assistant had also taken the time to show Sonic a map of the Hoenn region.

"Sonic," Callen spoke deciding to choose his words very carefully. He didn't want to go about this the wrong way but it was so important. "I want you to battle me."

The blue hedgehog still sitting on the desk with legs crossed gave the boy a strange look. "What do you mean battle you? What for?"

"I want you to be my partner Pokemon and come with me on my journey. I'll even help you look for your friend."

"Sorry but no thanks. It's not that I don't like you kid, it's just that I can cover ground much faster on my own especially since Joshua showed me a map of Hoenn." He didn't mention it but he also didn't want to be treated like some kind of pet or be shoved into a small pokeball about the size of his hand. Ever since yesterday with the battle against the grunt and today after seeing the new trainer choose his starter he wondered a bit what it be like to be contained in such a small device. He'd rather not find out whether or not he was extremely claustrophobic today.

"Then let's make a deal. I'll battle you with one of the _other_ Pokemon the professor has and if I win you have to be my partner. If I lose I'll leave you alone and you can go off and search for your friend on your own." There was something about the determination and confidence in the stare the kid was giving the blue hero that gave him a slight adrenaline rush. He couldn't stop himself from smirking, this wasn't a challenge he was going to turn away.

He hopped down off the desk and emerald eyes gave brown ones and equally determined gaze.

"It's a deal."

* * *

Just outside of the professor's lab surrounded by trees, Sonic and Callen stood ready to commence with the battle. The professor had decided to come along to help after the battle but he also wanted to see the blue hedgehog fight. Callen had already had the pokeball containing the Pokemon he was going to use in hand.

"I hope you don't have any hard feelings about this when you lose. You did accept the deal after all," he said looking at the completely calm and relaxed hedgehog standing with his arms crossed watching Callen.

"Don't you worry your pretty little head kid, cuz I won't be losing," he began stretching his legs one after another like a runner getting ready to sprint, then tapped the tip of one of his shoes against the ground a couple of times. "I'm ready when you are."

The auburn haired trainer reached back and threw the pokeball adrenaline beginning to start a jittery feeling inside him. "Now Manectric front and center!" he called out with eagerness.

The yellow and blue quadrupedal Pokemon came out in a red light, body tensing as it prepared for battle. Callen thought himself lucky that the professor just happened to have a Manectric. It's like fate was practically begging him to catch Sonic after meeting the azure traveler on the day he was going to get his starter and then the battle that followed after. Now with this Pokemon at his command he felt the chance for greatness making itself known.

 _"_ You can have the first move Sonic. _"_

The blue hero didn't need to wait any longer to begin his attack. He dashed forward with a good amount of speed closing in on his target. "Manectric use fire fang." The electric dog like Pokemons fangs became engulfed in flame preparing to take a chunk out of blue hide as it approached. Unfortunately it was unsuccessful in reaching its target when when a gloved hand used the light blue snout as leverage to jump right over snapping its mouth shut. The temporary weight although not too heavy that had bore down on it in that instant had caused the Pokemon to meet ground but it was far from over yet. Sonic just grinned admiring the less than happy snarl present on the Manectrics face.

"That's a nice set of teeth you got there but it doesn't do any good if you're not fast enough to bite me with them,." Manectric gave a growl small sparks of electricity flaring about its body.

"It's alright, he can't run forever. Use quick attack to get close and then spark,"Callen said not intimidated in the least bit by seeing the blue Pokemon's speed up close once again. The Manectric took off in a burst of speed but Sonic was not impressed. He began spinning into a tight ball ready to attack only to collide with a fully charged spark. The collision resulted in a small explosion but both Pokemon came out alright. Sonic could feel the fur on his body standing on end after making contact with the electricity but he shook off the feeling. Callen was very attentive to the hedgehogs movements but it didn't look like the attack achieved the required result just yet.

"Manectric use thunderbolt," Callen said as yellow electricity gathered before being shot out. It missed again as the blue hedgehog approached Manectric from the right punching it. Sonic looked down at his hand observing it as if he expected something strange to happen.

 _My hand isn't glowing like it did before. I wonder why._ "You know Callen if this is all your Pokemon can do, then this fight's going to be pretty one sided," he said smirking at the kid.

Manectric was back on its feet determined to win this battle for its temporary trainer and eager for a little payback. As a Pokemon it was pretty attuned to the emotions and feelings of others and right now it could easily pick up on the overly confident nature of its opponent.

"Heads up! I'm coming for ya!" The azure hero said as he began spinning at high speeds.

"Use quick attack to dodge," Callen knew that with Sonic's overwhelming speed would make it impossible to dodge all his attacks but he had to try if only to give things a bit more time. Manectric began the almost frantic rhythm of using quick attacks to make quick stops or turns while Sonic mercilessly pursued. Out of every five attacks three of them usually made slight contact and usually one of those three became a direct hit. However unbeknownst to Sonic each time he made contact with the yellow and blue Pokemon his body became just a bit more charged with electricity.

Eventually Manectric became too tired and miscalculated its movement giving the hedgehog a great opportunity for a direct hit. "You can't outrun the fastest thing alive," he bounced off the ground to attack from above.

"Manectric use thunderbolt now!" The bolt hit Sonic in midair slowing his momentum and he gave out a scream as voltage painfully coursed through his body but it wasn't enough. His homing attack still hit home knocking the Pokemon away.

"Manectric!" Callen saw the attack hit the Pokemon square on and with all the running it around it had been doing he believed it might be over until he heard a groan from the blue hedgehog. Little sparks of electricity kept crackling all over his body and he looked like he was in pain as he slowly struggled to stand.

 _He's paralyzed…but is it enough?_ The trainer thought.

"What's wrong with me, I can't move like I want to." Sonic had never felt electricity do something like this to him. It's like his body just became stiff and it took all of his willpower to get his muscles to move.

Callen looked back at Manectric, it was standing again but there's no denying that it was covered in bruises and quite exhausted now. The kid hoped its strength could hold out just a bit longer. "Hang in there Manectric we're so close now."

The blue and yellow electric type gave a bark ready to charge back in. "Now quick attack!"

The blue hedgehog heard the command and managed to duck just as his opponent leapt over. "Now use fire fang to grab onto one his quills,"

 _Is he nuts, my quills are as sharp as steel. That pokemon will end up with a mouth that looks like swiss cheese if its not careful._ Nonetheless less the Manectric was able to land a firefang and savagely bite into one his thick quills. The hero felt the fiery bite as it singed and burned the quills on his head conveniently blunting the area being attacked.

"Get off me." He shook his head violently and even tried to pry the pokemon off with his bare hands but the Manectric was holding on like it's life depended on it. Unfortunately for the blue hero it made it hard for him to try to spin to throw it off because his coordination was so poor at the moment. He eventually bristled his quills which lead to a bit of a muffled yelp coming from the Pokemon leading him to believe his quills may have injured him but it still didn't let go.

"Now Manectric finish this with your strongest thunderbolt and don't hold back even a little." Green eyes widened as he realized that this might have been what Callen wanted all along. It all made sense now. Callen wanted him to go on the offensive because he knew it would get him close enough to attack and paralyze him. _That cheap-_

He screamed as a point blank range thunderbolt hit him full force. The actual shock lasted several seconds longer than the previous one and hurt twice as much. When it was over Manectric had leapt off of the hedgehog the scent of charred fur and quills strongly in the air. Sonic took a few steps forward trying to keep his balance as he swayed from side to side, body a smoking wreck.

Paralysis still present, electrical burns flaring, and fur sticking out from all the extra electricity Sonic stood there holding his ground as silence spread all around him. Then he fainted unable to go on as both strength and willpower left him.

Professor Birch had walked over to the fainted hedgehog and was relieved to find that although the blue Pokemon had sustained injuries, none of them were critical. The scientist gently picked him up careful to avoid the quills before seeing the young boy go to check up on the Manectric

"You were amazing Manectric," he said giving it a rub on the head as the blue and yellow Pokemon nuzzled the boy's hand until it winced. And that's when he saw it, several blue quills no longer than his pinky lodged in the Pokemon side. He carefully removed them allowing the Pokemon to relax a little easier.

"Callen we need to get back to the lab to treat these two," Birch said adjusting the hedgehog in his arms.

"I'm coming professor," He carefully took one of the quills between gloveless fingers. _If the battle had went on any longer I might've lost._

Once again impressed by another characteristic of what would now be his new partner Callen picked up the injured Manectric following the professor back to his lab.

* * *

_ **The mystery and importance of the GS ball won't be revealed until much later but until then it hope trying to figure how it plays a part in all this eats you alive to the point where you have to keep reading. And yes I made that reference to Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Explorers of Sky/Darkness if that wasn't obvious.**


	8. Moonlit Battle: A Rivalry Begins!

**Hi guys! This one took awhile. I didn't know how to continue when I got it started and it was left unfinished for awhile. It also doesn't help that finals were coming up.**

 **Anyway have you heard about Pokemon Sun and Moon and the new starters? Awesome right? As someone who has a genuine love of Chimchar and fire types in general, Litten just looks like the coolest thing ever. I can hardly wait to see what its other evolutions are: maybe a panther or leopard with cool red designs. The legendaries also look amazing and the 3D models don't look so chibi-fied. I can't wait to see the trainer customization and other things they might add.**

 **In other news I can't believe SEGA decided to greenlight a Shinobi movie. Hasn't it been like forever since we've seen anything about their classic IP's and now they decide to make a movie...I have mixed feelings about the decision itself but at least it could mean they might revive more of their IP's. Still excited for the hype regarding the two new sonic games too as well the fan made series and or movies that youtubers like Sonicpox, Chakra x and Mark Haynes are doing. If you haven't checked them out you should.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 8: Moonlit Battle: A Rivalry Begins!

Route 102 was pretty peaceful from Cynthia's point of view. She had been walking quite a ways from Oldale town, the task Commander Jenny had given her weighing heavily on her mind. She thought back the end of the conversation…

" _There's just one condition...I need you to find Steven Stone. I haven't been able to contact him at all lately and I'm worried something has happened. Last I heard anything of his whereabouts he was in Granite Cave but no one has seen him since. Once you find him tell him to get in touch with me, there are some things we need to discuss."_

Steven Stone was missing? Something about that just didn't seem to sit right with the Sinnoh League champion. Her intuition was telling her that all these factors, Team Magma, Shadow Steven Stone's disappearance, were starting to turn into one big mess. It gave her all the more reason to be on her way but first she was looking forward to taking a rest somewhere in Petalburg City.

She stopped for a moment when she heard strange noises to her right only to tense when a young girl came bounding out of the bushes after being chased by two pokemon. Cynthia only had a second to make eye contact with the girl and the pink cat pokemon she held close in her arms before she ran behind her. As she cowered behind the champion, Cynthia saw that the pokemon in pursuit were a couple of houndoom giving rather nasty looks to her. Cynthia not intimidated in the least bit, gave a scowl of her own.

"That'll be enough of that," she said grabbing two occupied pokeballs. "Lucario, Shadow. Battle dance!" She tossed the two pokeballs watching as her Lucario and recently acquired black hedgehog came out. This wasn't the first time Shadow had been called out of his pokeball since he left the professor's lab but it would be his first battle with his trainer. He glanced out of the corner of his eye to see Lucario being called out of his pokeball as well. He had grown to really dislike the pokemon because of it's overprotective nature towards Cynthia. Shadow was not by any means _jealous,_ but the condescending attitude that the blue and black aura wielder always seemed to emanate when he was around irritated him frequently, even if he sort of acted the same.

Cynthia was not oblivious to the tension between the two, in fact she had picked up on it when she let out her pokemon all at once during the week. Strangely enough it seemed both red eyed pokemon had a very similar personality which explains a lot about why they try and tear each other apart with their looks time and again. She felt that the best way to deal with this problem was by having both pokemon battle together.

The houndoom on the right was the first to attack using flamethrower after its impatience had quickly run out. The other decided run in for a thunder fang. "Lucario use aura sphere and Shadow dodge and use double kick."

Lucario had quickly charged the ball of aura in its hands and threw it making contact with the flamethrower, beating back the flames, and damaging the horned pokemon but not taking it out. Shadow on the other hand had waited for the houndoom to lunge as he jumped into a backflip with ease avoiding the electrically charged fangs. He dashed towards the quadrupedal pokemon giving it little time to react with the first kick connecting followed by a second. The hits seemed to enrage it as it retaliated faster than before.

"Use rollout," the blonde haired trainer said thinking the angered houndoom might simply attack blindly. Unfortunately just when the attack was about to make contact, the fire and dark type pokemon feinted left before ramming its two curved horns into the ball of black and red spines. It didn't hurt but when he was finally able to stop his momentum, he found that the pokemon he had just been battling had retreated backward alongside its ally. The two of them used smog and both Lucario and Shadow having the same idea had rushed in to try and catch them unaware. As the smog cleared it seemed that the houndoom were gone. A pair of fluttering wings didn't go unnoticed by silver eyes as a suspicious looking bat pokemon suddenly flew away from the scene.

The girl who had hid behind Cynthia when the houndoom decided to attack sighed in relief. "Thanks a lot. I don't know what I would have done if you weren't here. My name is Lyla by the way," she said as her skitty mewled in excitement.

Now that Cynthia could get a good look at the girl she noticed that she was wearing blue overalls with a pale yellow shirt underneath and orange gloves. She wore sneakers and her black hair was tied up into a ponytail with a flower on it. She would have looked like quite the average girl if it hadn't been for the twigs and leaves stuck all in her hair like her ponytail had a fight with some bushes and lost.

"It's always a pleasure to help those in trouble Lyla," she said smiling at the girl as Shadow and Lucario came back closer to their trainers side undoubtedly shooting each other nasty looks behind her back.

"My name is Cynthia. Do you mind telling me why those Houndoom were chasing you?"

"Sure," she said adjusting the skitty in her arms. "But let's talk at my grandma's house I bet she's worried by now. C'mon I'll show you the way!" She grabbed the champions hand to lead her off in the direction of her grandmother's house.

While they walked Cynthia couldn't help but think that the houndoom and the bat pokemon were no coincidence.

The young girl Lyla seemed to talk up a storm to Cynthia on the walk to her grandmother's house. It obviously didn't take much for her to open up even to a stranger but the Sinnoh league champion didn't mind. She found the girls companionship enjoyable especially when it means having company that isn't worshipping the ground you stand on.

"We're here!" Lyla said voice hitching up a few octaves in excitement. It gave Cynthia the impression that she couldn't have been any older than eight.

The house was fairly large and had a small bird bath in front where some Taillow were happily enjoying themselves in the water. A wooden rocking chair sat on the porch and above it, hanging from the edge of the roof, was a chimecho chime trinket that made a soothing jingle when the breeze blew it. But the most interesting part of the property was the huge garden in the back where several berry bushes could be seen.

"Do you like it?" the girl asked smiling as her skitty leapt from her arms and ran placing its paws on the front door.

"It's wonderful," the silver eyed trainer said. Lyla giggled and ran to the front door where her skitty eagerly waited to go inside.

"If you want you can let your pokemon out in the garden. There's lots of space and I'm sure they could relax there."

"Thank you, I think I'll take you up on your offer." Shadow and Lucario had been following behind Cynthia silently while keeping their distance from each other. Cynthia had reached for her partners pokeball and released Garchomp as well.

"This is a good opportunity for the three of you to relax here so be good ok?" She said smiling. Shadow was the first to stalk off into the garden feeling an intense need to get away from Lucario and the black and blue pokemon did the same. Just as Garchomp was about to follow, Cynthia whispered to her partner.

"Keep an eye on both them for me," she placed a hand on the ground and dragon type pokemons head before following Lyla into the house. The champion knew she could trust her partner to make good judgements about any type of problem that arises..

As the champion opened the door she was immediately greeted by the warm scents of vanilla and caramel. Lyla's skitty had already made itself at home on a purple love seat next to a TV.

"I'm home grandma and I brought company!" Lyla said as she disappeared into what was probably the kitchen.

"Oh caught that skitty again did you? Maybe you should consider getting one of those DexNav's trainers carry around so you can keep track of her. I think this is by far the longest time you've taken to bring her back yet!" It was then that the grandmother first laid on eyes on the champion clad in black with her blond hair covering one of her silver eyes.

"I'm sorry granny, I got chased by some nasty houndoom that came out of nowhere and then this nice trainer and her pokemon helped me out!" the young girl said gesturing to the newest guest she invited in.

The older woman took a moment to adjust her glasses as she took in Cynthia's appearance, stepping out of the kitchen as the young girl stood beside her. Her gray hair was also tied up in a ponytail and she wore a white apron over lavender clothes.

The old woman gave Cynthia a warm smile. "My, my, is it true? Did you save my Lyla from those houndoom?"

"It was a pleasure mam," the champion said giving a little bow.

"Then make yourself comfortable while I make some tea. I've gotta show you some kind of hospitality don't I?"

* * *

"I know I said it before, but I'm really grateful for you saving Lyla," the old woman said. Cynthia had been seated on a couch across from the old woman who called herself Winowa. Winowa sipped tea from a small cup before placing it down. Lyla on the other hand had taken up residence in a chair next to a window. She had propped her chin up on her elbows as she swung her feet back in forth through the air behind her. Her Skitty was taking a nap on the upper portion of the chair close to where someone's head would be. The young girl couldn't help but stare at a certain hedgehog who was outside in the garden leaning against a tree with his arms crossed and his eyes closed in a relaxed stance.

"You know this isn't the first time we've had a problem with those vicious pokemon," Winowa said looking down at her lap. Over these past two weeks those houndoom have scared off pokemon from the garden, attacked others, and even tried to hurt Lyla and her skitty.

"Do you have any idea what they may have been doing?" The silver eyed trainer had a hunch as to what they were after, but it doesn't hurt to confirm it.

"Not really other than the fact they seem to be searching for something. What they may be searching for I could never tell you but they seem pretty serious about it!"

" _Of course they are. They're looking for Shadow just like I thought and now that they know he's in the area they'll probably be back. The question is: where are their trainers hiding?"_ Cynthia thought to herself.

Shadow, who seemed like he was napping against the tree, opened his ruby eyes to stare at the girl a moment after the feeling of being watched disturbed his thoughts. He saw the girl at the window and recognized her as the one from earlier. She smiled at him after making eye contact but rather than smile back like most pokemon might do, he simply moved around to the other side of the tree where he wouldn't be stared at. Lyla giggled not discouraged in the least bit by the anti- social personality being shown by Shadow. She turned around to ask a question to the trainer she just recently met.

"Miss Cynthia? Who was that pokemon you used with your Lucario to battle those Houndoom earlier? Did he come from a different region?" She asked interrupting Cynthia who was in the middle of telling her grandmother that she was on her way to Petalburg City.

"You could say that. His name is Shadow and he's...special. I haven't been with him long so there's really not much I can tell you."

"That's alright. Besides it's much more fun to learn about a pokemon up close anyway. Do you think he would like meeting me?" she asked already showing signs that she was a bit eager to go outside.

"I don't think he'll mind…(much), although I'll warn you now he's not much of the sociable type," Cynthia chose her words carefully. She figured the black hedgehog would probably opt to disappear the moment Lyla tries to talk up a conversation. She nearly laughed at the thought of the serious pokemon running away from a little girl.

The silver eyed trainers response was all she needed to hop off the chair and enter the garden through the back door. Her presence didn't go unnoticed as black ears flicked at the sound of a door closing. He listened as footsteps crept slowly towards his position.

"I gotcha!" she said quickly running around the tree only to stare at bark.

"Hey where did you go? That's not fair!" the eight year old pouted as she looked in every direction. Red eyes watched from above in the cover of the trees as the girl eventually moved away continuing to search for him. From his position he could make out the red eyes of Lucario who had caught every bit of his high speed movement as well as the blank expression on the hedgehog's face with his keen eyes. He merely scoffed and looked away.

* * *

Later on that night Shadow found that he couldn't sleep. It wasn't that something was bothering him but rather he felt the need to stretch his legs and think. He leapt down from the tree that he hadn't moved from since earlier and skated away thankful that his shoes allowed him to move quickly without making too much noise. A certain ground and dragon Pokemon awakened as she witnessed the leaving form of the black hedgehog but soon closed her eyes and went back to sleep. Garchomp had a feeling a certain aura wielder wouldn't be far behind.

Shadow had reached a river not far from the house his trainer was staying in. There was a slope behind him where the rest of the forest continued and gravel crackled under his metal shoes as he approached the water. He leaned over the liquid, running a hand across his face examining the red streaks that accentuated his eyes, before dropping down into a line under them and continuing the jagged yet also neat pattern across his body. He couldn't remember if he had the markings before he was captured by Team Magma or not but he just _felt_ that they were somehow unnatural. He tried not to think too much on that period of time as it brought back painful memories that he felt were better left forgotten.

The movement of gravel from his left made his ear twitch and he looked in that direction to see a blue and black body belonging to the one pokemon he didn't want to see right now. Lucario continued to walk passing Shadow but keeping his eye contact. There was a huge boulder nearby that he stopped in front of. He knew Shadow was watching and he closed his eyes taking a breath as he brought his black paws together to form a long thin blue bone. Wielding the bone as if it were a staff he yelled and brought the bone down on the boulder breaking it with great force only capable by a high level pokemon. The boulder split into pieces many pieces and when Lucario looked to the hedgehog again he smirked.

Shadow resisted the urge the growl. He knew that during the week Lucario had recently learned a new move: bone rush. And that smug pokemon had the audacity to rub it in his face!

"Is that a challenge?" he asked lowly. He somehow knew that the other was just itching to challenge him to a fight. He obviously wanted to put the black and red hedgehog in his place but he couldn't do that with Cynthia around. This was perfect for both of them.

"And if it is?" Lucario said playing this little conversation out and enjoying the tension that was slowly rising.

"Then I'll show you why your attempts to intimidate me are useless. I refuse to like a second rate subordinate just because you've been around longer than I have."

"Good because this wouldn't be nearly as satisfying if you had backed off," it said taking a position between the slope and the river just as his opponent was doing. They each took a stance, one pair of red eyes matching the other and neither moved an inch for a moment.

Then Lucario struck.

He came in hard and fast with jabs from his strong paws using his weight to carry his momentum forward. Shadow knew in an instant that if he was any other Pokemon without the ability of speed right now he would have already been finished. Luckily he could follow the blows and dodged easily enough, his short height allowing him to dodge more as he took steps back. He quickly reacted to one of the jabs after memorizing the rhythm and caught the appendage using the weight in the attack to flip the bigger Pokemon behind him in a judo throw. Lucario was hardly fazed he landed on his feet and used bone rush once again thrusting in forward just as the black hedgehog leapt out the way to avoid it. This time Shadow knew he couldn't dodge, so he didn't. A side swipe of the staff like bone was aimed right for his side so he put up his arms to block it. Unfortunately he didn't think the impact would hurt so much and he winced. It was all the time the aura wielder needed and to spin the bone in his hands around before delivering a hard blow to the hedgehog sending him crashing against the slope. Shadow looked at his arm and despite his dark fur, he could see the bruise that was starting to appear on his skin. He stood up and held his arm. Lucario took it as a sign to continue and despite the pain Shadow was feeling, he raised his arms to block every attack looking for an opening to counter. The blue and black Pokemon wouldn't admit it but he was surprised that the other was able to stand up to his attacks for so long. His arms must be aching but he was taking the hits and pushing through the pain. Unfortunately Lucario had other plans. After a quick barrage of blows he quickly crouched down and used his foot to sweep Shadow off his feet quickly putting the hedgehog on his back. Before he could deal what he thought would be the final blow Shadow blocked again using the bottom of his foot. The black hedgehog wasn't too happy about being surprised. He had just gotten used to the fighting style of the other and was about to counter back with some attacks of his own. Now he was stuck in a bit of stalemate not sure how to proceed now that he was pinned.

Unbeknownst to the two Pokemon fighting it out near the river three pairs of eyes had been observing from the darkness of the trees. Seeing both Pokemon caught up in their stalemate they felt that now was the time to act.

A black quadrupedal figure had sprinted out from the bushes and used flamethrower to target Lucario. Both Pokemon had managed to move away just in time to escape the fiery attack. That's when another figure similar to the first had came out right in front of Shadow and used fake out. Shadow flinched still caught up in the surprise of being interrupted and the third and final figure came out jumping high into the sky before launching a hyper beam and the flinching hedgehog. Luckily Lucario had managed to grab the figure closest to him and threw it at the hedgehog roughly knocking him away just as the hyper beam struck the ground. When Shadow finally managed to get his bearings he saw that the three figures were Houndoom. He recognized the two from earlier today but the one that had just used hyper beam was different. It had some kind of red and silver armor on its head, neck, back, and around its legs. The black and red symbol on its neck was all too familiar to Shadow and he quickly got to his feet.

"Corner him! Don't let him escape," The armored Houndoom barked. The other two Houndoom ran towards him but Shadow refusing to let them have their way took off in order to try and separate them. The leader of the trio was just about to follow his subordinates when aura sphere cut off his advances.

The leader looked back at the more than a little agitated Lucario who had charged another aura sphere in its paws. "How dare you interrupt our battle!"

The Houndoom merely turned with calm expression on its face. "Don't interfere with matters that do not concern you. Our target is the Pokemon that you were fighting and we were just following orders. If you leave now we'll pretend you don't exist."

"I don't care whose orders you were following. The moment you appeared you disgraced our honor as fighters and I can't forgive you." Despite the condescending attitude Lucario possessed towards Shadow and the need to make himself superior as the more experienced Pokemon, he still respected Shadow as a fighter and one of Cynthia's Pokemon. He wanted a fair fight to prove he was better and he was denied that opportunity.

"Have it your way then," the armored Pokemon growled as it leapt high into the air with the moon behind its back.

Shadow looked behind him to see that the two Houndoom were still hot in pursuit. In the blink of an eye he turned around and caught the one on the left unaware using roll out knock it away. He narrowly missed a flamethrower from the other Houndoom. It wasn't long before the other fire and dark Pokemon was back on its feet again and it looked livid. Allowing its aggression to take hold flames began to erupt around it before heading straight for Shadow. The black hedgehog had never seen a fire type move quite like this one and right before he could safely dodge he was engulfed in an inferno of flames…

Lucario braced himself for the impact from the Houndoom that was spinning in mid air in order to gain enough momentum to power up its iron tail. The armored Houndoom was bit tougher than he was expecting, but he knew this battle was coming to an end very quickly. He had managed to get in a lot more hits on the dark Pokemon with his speed and it was showing. The fearless Houndoom leader was panting hard. There were numerous dents in its armor where the aura wielder's attacks had connected and it only added to the worn out appearance of the Pokemon. And then that's when Lucario heard a pained cry coming from the direction he had just seen the hedgehog run off to and gritted his teeth. The Houndoom observed Lucario and smirked. "It looks like my subordinates have just about secured our target. Guess that means I better wrap this up!"

He began his assault again with a quickened haste rushing directly for Lucario but just as the aura wielder attacked the Houndoom it feinted left and used fire blast. At the last second Lucario had managed to use aura sphere to reduce the damage resulting in an explosion surrounding him in smoke. The armored Houndoom thinking that the fire blast had made full contact, smirked in what seemed like victory. He wasn't in the least bit ready for a surprise dragon pulse out of the smoke by Lucario. Not able to dodge, the dog like Pokemon skid on the ground armor making a loud scraping noise against gravel as he came to a stop. Exhausted beyond his limit he tried to stand but couldn't. As the smoke cleared a bruised Lucario stood tall glaring down at his opponent. The fire and dark Pokemon gave one more intense look to his opponent before fainting ending their battle.

Without delay Lucario had took off to find the black hedgehog, the sound of a struggle getting ever so closer…

Shadow held the part of his arm that had been burned by the inferno. The burned ground around him gave off a pungent smell. The fire from a Houndoom is considered to be a bit more toxic than other Pokemon and it was showing. The black and red striped Pokemon was far from defeated but his pursuers could already feel their confidence rising. They each began a slow walk around their target circling him. When they felt the moment to strike was right they pounced ready to finish this if it weren't for a dragon pulse shot out at the last second. The targeted Pokemon slid backwards out from the smoke on all fours trying to recover from the pain of the powerful dragon type move. The other Houndoom hesitated and skid to a stop before it could continue. A blue and black body had appeared now back to back with the black hedgehog. "I didn't need your help," Shadow growled refusing to let the other Pokemon save him in any way. He could almost _feel_ Lucario's amusement and it was already irritating him.

"I didn't come here to save you. I came here because these Houndoom interrupted a battle that I was about to win," he said keeping an eye on the Houndoom that seemed to be slightly on the defensive.

"You're condescending attitude continues to annoy me. Call it what you please but no winner was decided. " And as he finished his sentence he kicked up dirt in the Houndooms eyes before launching himself at the dark furred Pokemon with a strong roll out. Behind him the aura wielder had used bone rush to quickly finish off the other Houndoom and with no other reason to stay after the long night both Pokemon had returned back to the garden.

It was later on when Shadow was about to make himself comfortable in one of the trees that he was approached one last time by Lucario.

"What do you want now?" Shadow said exhausted from earlier. He didn't feel it then but all the bruises he took from bone rush were finally starting to ache making it a chore to move. Lucario had placed a small pile of two different types of blue berries on the ground behind the red eyed Pokemon who only looked back to scrutinize the look on the aura wielders face.

"Take them if you want or leave them, it doesn't matter to me," he said and walked off out of sight. The black hedgehog looked to the pile recognizing the two types as Oran and Rawst berries. Shadow remembered them both from the Pokemon enclosure Professor Birch took him to not long ago. This would make it easier to get his strength back and heal his burn but why would Lucario bother? As he pondered this his arm began to sting again, the pain not stopping anytime soon. He hated to accept it but he figured it wouldn't hurt his pride too much if the aura wielder wasn't around to see him take the berries anyway. It wasn't long afterwards that he finally settled into a comfortable sleep in a tree. Just a few feet away was Garchomp who had both witnessed the two leave and return. She sensed the danger of the Houndoom earlier but knew Lucario could take care of it. After seeing the interaction between the two she could only guess at what the other two Pokemon had went through but one thing was for sure, it seems they had grown to respect each other just a little more.

* * *

 **A new rival in the Pokemon world...I hope I'm doing a good job of keeping things interesting for you. I really do plan to see this fic all the way through since there are so many other sonic and Pokemon crossovers that don't get finished. Please review and give me your thoughts and opinions! And shout out to me if you wouldn't mind maybe seeing a sonic or Pokemon crossover with Pokemon Platinum or even Pokemon Sun and Moon!**


	9. A Boy and His Hedgehog

**Yo, hey guys been a long time since I updated this fic but if you're still with me I really appreciate it. Still want this fic to be not only the longest pokemon and sonic crossover but also the most well written.**

 **Are you guys keeping up with the info about Pokemon Sun and Moon. Quite a few interesting pokemon have been revealed and I hear that gyms are being replaced with these trials. Along with these alola forms and new pokedex Sun and Moon sounds like it's going to be a blast!**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 9: A Boy and his Hedgehog

Callen took a deep breath of fresh air. Now that he had everything he needed to start his journey, he and his partner had walked all the way to Oldale town where they had first met up early this morning. It was much later in the evening and despite having spent most of the day walking, the brunette was finally happy to be on the path of being a great trainer. He could almost picture all the adventures he would have in the near future alongside his incredible partner…?

Callen noticed a lack of blue hedgehog standing right beside him. His partner… Where did his partner go?

"Sonic?! Sooniiic?" he called out while turning in a circle only to spot him crouching down in front of a tree in a melancholy state. He was facing away from his newfound trainer head bowed, ears down, quills slackened, and a gloved finger drawing spirals into the dirt depressingly. The young kid felt that the only thing that would make the hedgehog's position complete would be a comically sized cartoony cloud raining and thundering right above his head. Callen walked over to the seemingly depressed hedgehog and crouched down beside him.

"Sonic, don't tell me your salty about the battle yesterday are you?" he said giving an amused chuckle and poking an ungloved finger into the blue furred hero's side. And then the hero stood up but didn't turn to face Callen.

"Salty? I'm not salty. I'm not salty at all." And then there was a pregnant pause as Callen stood to watch his partner.

"I'm just peachy about the fact that I lost to you and thunder mutt yesterday because of cheap tricks," he had turned to give what could have passed for the most genuine smile and thumbs up he could get from the sapphire colored pokemon if it hadn't been for the very detectable sarcasm in his voice.

"No kid, _salty_ doesn't even begin to cut it," he said as he started walking, passing the sign that read Route 102 with Callen keeping step with him. The smirk was off his face now replaced with a small frown.

"If it was about your performance in the battle, I thought you did great. Better than great actually. That Manectric already had a lot of experience but despite not knowing anything about pokemon battles you still put on a great fight up until you got paralyzed. There was no shame in the way you lost," the young trainer reasoned trying to lift the blue hedgehog's spirits.

Sonic just snorted and walked a little faster and Callen had to adjust his gait to keep pace. "Are you upset because you have to be my partner now?"

Red sneakers stopped in their tracks as emerald eyes gave Callen a _look._ And then he continued walking. The fifteen year old sighed and tugged at the bandanna around his arm again, a kind of second nature habit when things weren't working out for him. And he had such a good morning too.

 _*This Morning*_

 _Callen had spent another night at the Pokemon city in Littleroot town and he had woken up bright and early to head over to Professor Birch's lab so he could officially become a trainer. Halfway through changing clothes and fixing his hair, he noticed through the reflection in the mirror that there was bundle of untidy fur and quills still lying in the bed._

 _He sighed and walked over to the sheets pulling them off._

" _Sonic I thought I told you to get up!"_

" _Ten more minutes..." the hedgehog intoned sleepily._

" _You said that thirty minutes ago come on!" the brunette said talking right into a blue ear just to annoy him some more._

" _Uggggh," the blue hero moaned._

" _You know for someone so proud their speed, you sure are slow to get up in the morning," Callen smirked at his jab as he finished up his hair._

" _Don't start. It's too early in the morning for this." Sonic said finally getting out bed before going through a morning routine of his own._

 _Callen was rather glad he could reserve a room for the both of them without any other guests. He didn't feel like answering fifty questions before finally sleeping and something told him Sonic wouldn't want to either. When they both looked more presentable, he and a still rather grumpy Sonic finally went down to the lab where Professor Birch was waiting on them._

" _Bright and early I see. You know what they say, the early pidgey catches the caterpie," Birch said watching the trainer walk in with his black shirt and emerald green jacket from before. He hardly noticed the azure pokemon roll his eyes in response and plop down in the nearest chair._

" _Speak for yourself doc. When you can move faster than the speed of sound you can afford to take your time every now and then," he finished while looking in the general direction of his soon to be trainer. If Callen felt the peeved emerald gaze upon him he made no indication of it._

" _Uh professor can we move this along already," he said._

" _Oh sure. I forgot how your journey was put on delay for a lot longer than it should have with everything going on." Birch walked to one of the desks and pulled out a couple of items before returning to Callen._

" _Here," he said handing the red and black colored game boy shaped device to Callen. "This is your pokedex which contains valuable info on all kinds of pokemon." Callen tapped the device and watched the screen light up._

" _I already took the time to add Sonic and Shadow's data to the pokedex, for future reference anyway, " he said and scrolled down to the very bottom of list for Hoenn._

 ** _Dex no. xx1_**

 ** _(Hedgehog Pokemon) (Shadow)_**

 ** _Male_**

 ** _Type: Dark/Fighting_**

 ** _Height: 3'3"_**

 ** _Weight: 77.1 lbs_**

 ** _Ability: Quill Armor: The opponent using a physical move takes damage. Continued use of a physical move increases the damage._**

 ** _A mysterious hedgehog pokemon... Using incredible, speed it can use its quills to cut through solid steel. It is said to originate from an unknown world._**

 ** _Dex no. xx2_**

 ** _(Hedgehog Pokemon) (Sonic)_**

 ** _Male_**

 ** _Type: Normal/Fighting_**

 ** _Height: 3'3"_**

 ** _Weight: 77 lbs_**

 ** _Ability: Quill Armor: The opponent using a physical move takes damage. Continued use of a physical move increases the damage._**

 ** _A mysterious hedgehog pokemon… Using incredible, speed it can use its quills to cut through solid steel. It is said to originate from an unknown world._**

 ** _Known Moves: Mach Punch, Roll Out, Agility_**

" _Quill armor huh, I've never heard of that ability before but I guess it makes sense with the stray quills I took out of Manectric yesterday," Callen noted._

" _Indeed it does. It seems like the ability is unique to only Sonic and Shadow although there are some abilities like rough skin that are very similar to it. Of course I hope you discover more about it as you continue your journey so I can archive more info to add to my research," Birch responded. "As you can see we don't have all the data on what kind of species they are since they weren't originally pokemon but if anyone asks this will do for now. This pokedex also comes installed with a map of the Hoenn region and a new resource being used by many trainers currently, a dexnav. It will help you find pokemon in certain areas. It should come in pretty handy."_

 _Next Birch pulled out a silver case. "This is your badge case which you'll of course be using to keep badges as you beat gyms. And finally," he handed the last item to Callen a half golden pokeball with the letters GS inscribed on it. "This is the pokeball your father sent."_

 _After putting away the badge case and pokedex he took the GS ball admiring the fact that it was so shiny he could see his own reflection in it. He turned to Sonic who was relaxed in the chair staring off at some uninteresting thing. Judging by the way he was fidgeting, you didn't need to be a rocket scientist to tell that he was pretty bored out of his mind right now. He was probably only half listening as the professor gave him the necessary items to become a trainer. Callen thought it was shame that the hedgehog didn't seem to share his enthusiasm with him, but he hoped that would change along the way._

" _Sonic it's finally about time to hit the road," he said realizing how similar his impatience seemed to be in comparison to his partner._

" _Finally, I thought you two were going to chit chat forever," he said stretching like he had been sitting in the chair for hours when he had been there for pretty much all of ten minutes._

" _There's just one more thing we need to do before we leave." He tossed the golden pokeball in his fingerless gloved hand a couple of times as he watched his partners reaction._

" _Oh no, if you think I'm going to ride around in that itsy bitsy ball for the rest of this journey you've got another thing comin kid," he said catching on all too quickly to what Callen was implying._

 _Callen caught the pokeball once more and folded his arms with a smug look on his face. "Now now, I'm the trainer here and it's not nice for you to sass your trainer."_

" _Pfft. Your about as much of trainer as I am a real pokemon. And you'd have to catch me first," he said pointing his finger for emphasis._

" _Ok, challenge accepted," he said before making a grab for the hedgehog who leapt away to stand on top of one of the desks._

" _You're too slow," he said mocking the trainer as he leapt away again scattering papers across the lab in his wake._

" _Please boys, not in the lab, there's too much expensive equipment in here!" Birch panicked as the two continued their one sided cat and mouse game._

 _Sonic landed in one of the chairs in the lab as it spun watching Callen with a smug look on his face. He was having way too much fun. As he sprinted away from the chair to make a dash for the door deeper into the lab he collided with someone moments later._

" _Professor Birch, I finished alphabetizing those fil-ahh!" Joshua yelped as he didn't expect 77lbs of blue hedgehog to collide with him as he was turning the corner. Both he and the hedgehog hit the ground together scattering the stack of papers he had been holding on to. And seconds later the brunette who had been dashing after the hedgehog tripped and fell on top of both of them. While the blue blur was still dazed he quickly touched the hedgehog with the GS ball watching it engulf him in a red light before watching it wriggle from side to side in his palm._

 _He didn't know what the catch rate of the GS ball was but he hoped it was high enough to catch Sonic otherwise registering him with the pokeball without a fuss would be difficult. It took longer than usual for the ball to stop wiggling and even longer for the flashing red light to finally settle. Callen then immediately released the hedgehog with a prepared smug look on his face._

 _Sonic seemed to stand there in a trance for a minute before finally snapping out to glare into brown eyes._

" _You...How dare you..." he said with dramatic effect._

 _Callen chuckled clearly amused before turning to the professor. "Sorry about the mess professor and the papers," he said referring to Joshua. He was just about to start picking up the papers when the professor stopped him._

" _That's quite alright. Joshua and I will handle the clean-up. After all you have a journey to get to don't you?" Birch was clearly ready for the two to leave the lab before he really did have to be responsible for any expensive equipment._

" _Yea I do, thanks professor, for everything. I'll make sure and call you when I get to Petalburg City and tell you how things are going," he said heading for the door a bit guiltily with Sonic following behind._

" _Oh alright then take care you two. And try to steer to clear of Team Aqua and Team Magma while you're at it," he said as Sonic and Callen began approaching the door._

" _Don't worry I will!"_

 _And as they left, the Professor couldn't help but think what strange pair those two will make._

 _*End of Flashback*_

Well at least in Callen's opinion he felt like he had a good morning anyway. He looked at the blue hedgehog again whose chatty demeanor had continued to be absent. He wasn't sure what he could do or say to make it up to his partner somehow. He was pretty sure trying to offer so kind of poke treat was out of the question. Unfortunately before he could continue his train of thought, Sonic had stopped abruptly beside him, cat like ears twitching.

"What is it Sonic?" Callen said in a low tone of voice not sure if he should be wary of whatever the hedgehog's sensitive hearing was picking up on. Luckily he didn't have to wait long to find out.

The rustling of the bushes just ahead of them became loud enough that even Callen could make out the sound. The two waited for the mystery pokemon to show itself but they only caught a glimpse of a gray furry tail peeking out.

"What is that?" the blue pokemon asked prepared for the next bit of pokemon weirdness to throw him another curveball.

"Let's find out," Callen said, taking out the gameboy shaped pokedex.

"Poochyena, the dark dog pokemon. At first sight, Poochyena takes a bite at anything that moves. This Pokemon chases after prey until the victim becomes exhausted. However, it may turn tail if the prey strikes back," the pokedex told him in an automated voice.

"So it's a poochyena. I bet we could catch it if we work together," the young trainer said smiling at his partner but to no avail.

Rather than give him an enthusiastic response, Sonic simply turned his head sharply away from the trainer in a very uncooperative manner. If it weren't for the fact that he was the kids partner now, he would have turned tail long ago. Unfortunately he was reduced to just being plain stubborn for now since he wasn't one to break his word.

Callen sighed hoping Sonic wouldn't act this way the whole journey. "Fine then. I'll just sneak up on it all on my own. Just be ready to battle it when pops out of the bush ok?" But if the blue blur heard him he didn't make any motion to agree he just continued being stubborn keeping his head facing away from his partner.

"Man someone should really make a song about you. Heh- Sonic, he can really move. Sonic, he's got an attitude," he half mumbled half sung to himself jokingly.

Callen took cautious steps towards the dog like pokemon hoping his little chat with the blue blur didn't make the pokemon suspicious. He tiptoed around the bush ready to make it scatter in the direction his partner was when his foot made a rather loud crunching noise on a twig. Both the rustling of the bush and the young trainer stopped in their motion and waited. Then the next thing the brunette knew, the poochyena leapt out of the bush towards Callen. Startled by the sudden movement the 15 year old stumbled back to thankfully miss a mouth of teeth sinking into his person. The poochyena instead had gotten a hold of his green jacket. The pokemon continued to growl and tug until a red sneaker made contact with its face.

Callen looked at his partner standing beside him but Sonic didn't make eye contact with him. In fact he was giving the dog pokemon a rather bored stare. The poochyena that made a fearful whimper after being kicked backed up a bit before howling. Seconds later two other poochyena appeared beside it.

Alone the poochyena would have ran, but together as a pack they felt more confident in their abilities. They began to growl in unison to try and intimidate the blue hedgehog.

"Sonic quick use rollout!" Callen said picking himself up off the ground, but Sonic didn't move an inch. Instead he ran up using his speed and punched the poochyena on the right. The other two responded by turning around and using sand attack with their front paws. The blue hedgehog pokemon lifted his arm up too late as dirt was flung into his eyes.

Callen heard Sonic give an angry growl and watched his quills straighten in a dangerous way. The blue hedgehog lashed out in annoyance just as the three poochyena tackled him all at the same time.

"Sonic are you alright?" Callen asked but Sonic didn't answer back.

The blue blur began spinning into a ball managing to hit all three poochyena with amazing speed. Deterred by the fast attack the three aggressors began running off with their tails between their legs.

As Sonic began using his arm to rub off the dirt that covered his face and eyes Callen walked over to kneel in front of Sonic who scowled at the gesture. He didn't want to feel like a helpless child to the teen. Said teen only grabbed a cloth from his bag and poured water from his water bottle over it and began wiping dirt from his partners face. Something about the action seemed to irritate the hedgehog more and he took the wet cloth from Callen before wiping his own face. "I'm fine ok. I'm...just gonna go for a run..."

"Huh?"

"I'll be back in an hour so don't worry," and before Callen could ask any number of questions the blue pokemon was gone.

The brunette just stayed there dumbstruck for a moment before he decided he might as well set up camp since it was getting late. They had managed to make so much progress throughout the day and were so close to Petalburg City too.

Thirty minutes later the young trainer had almost finished inventorying all of his essentials and had his sleeping bag laid out. He was just about to prepare some instant ramen for himself when a pink quadrupedal pokemon came and practically jumped into his arms.

"Woah there. Do I know you or you just some naughty pokemon looking to eat my food when I'm not looking?" he said.

"Sylvy, Sylveon!" it said cheerily, nuzzling into his chest like it had known him all along. The gesture seemed oddly reminiscent of a pokemon he knew before from his childhood but it couldn't be the same one could it?

"Well who'd of thought I'd find you here,," a voice said as he set the pink and white pokemon down.

Callen looked up to find a girl with toffee colored skin and short, dark, auburn hair. She was wearing black shorts, and brown boots that were laced at the top and matched her brown gloves, and a red tank with a white stripe on the side. She also wore a utility belt with lots of little compartments hooked on to it, a red and black backpack, and black goggles on her head. Her hazel eyes looked on to a somewhat bewildered trainer.

"Piper?" Callen asked almost unsure if this was the same person he had known as a child.

"The one and only," she responded looking at her dear friend that she hadn't seen in awhile..

"What are you doing here? I thought you said you started your journey a couple of weeks ago."

"I did but I've been spending my time gathering data on pokemon for a huge project I'm working on," Piper said as she knelt down and the pink pokemon that greeted Callen earlier came back beside her trainer as she gave it an affectionate rub.

"Is that the eevee you befriended when you were younger?" the brunette inquired.

"It sure is. My little Sylveon. Well I guess she's not so little now," and Piper smiling as the Sylveon seemed to agree. "So where's your partner? Did you choose treecko like you always said you would when we were kids just because it was green," she teased with a hand on her hip.

"Well no not exactly..." he said awkwardly reminded of the situation going on between him and the blue hedgehog. Piper gave him a strange look.

"Well then who did you choose?" she asked eagerly.

"Piper why don't we spend a bit of time catching up first. It'll make it easier to explain everything that's happened over the past few days."

* * *

True to his word Sonic had spent the entire hour running. Too fast for any pokemon or trainer to make out his form or ask questions he had decided not to venture too far and circle the area around where he presumed his trainer would still be waiting. It was a little past sunset when he took off and it was getting darker every moment.

He still didn't feel complete relief after going for a run but he was still a whole lot more relaxed than before. He figured he should head back to his partner so he wouldn't worry despite the way he was still feeling.

When he returned he found that Callen had already set up a camp of sorts and more importantly that he wasn't alone. The toffee colored girl with hazel eyes seemed to perk up at his arrival, her expression showing just how stunned she was by his appearance and the speed that he had just been traveling.

"Have a good run?" Callen asked putting a small smile on his face.

"You could say that," Sonic said before jumping up in the nearest tree and making himself comfortable. His body language clearly showed that he wasn't in the mood to really talk or introduce himself for that matter.

Piper continued to stare at the blue figure now lounging in the tree. The brunette already told her that Sonic could talk but hearing him on her own was still pretty amazing. It's a shame the hedgehog didn't look like he wanted to start a conversation. Her curiosity was already on the rise and steadily climbing. Piper gestured with her eyes for Callen to confront Sonic. After her friend explained the craziness that went on in the past few days she suggested that he just ask his partner directly why he was acting the way he was. She intuitively believed that there was something else bothering him. The brunette stood up and started climbing the tree Sonic was in carefully trying to remember what Piper said..

Sonic noticed that someone was climbing the tree and looked over to see Callen pull himself up to the same branch he was laying on.

"Kid if you fall I'm _not_ going to catch you," the blue blur said arms still lying behind his head with his legs crossed one over the other.

"Oh yea?" he said when he was finally sitting on the branch. Callen got this look on his face and then he began bouncing the branch up and down for a little harmless fun while he snickered. Sonic sat up a bit quickly and looked the trainer right in his brown eyes.

"I'm serious," he reiterated not enthused by his partners action at all.

Callen waited a minute to speak, catching Sonic lay back down on the tree out of the corner of his eye. "Sonic is there something else bothering you besides losing a battle and becoming my partner?"

Said partner stayed silent looking up at the sky. Callen never noticed how bright and gem like the eyes of the blue hero were until now. They reminded him a lot of how luminescent a cat's eyes can be. Not receiving an answer he looked up at the stars that were visible too. He knew he probably shouldn't have but he let his mind wander a bit about the sheer size of the sky before thinking about his partner again. For some reason those stories the other had told him a couple of days ago when they first met popped back up in his mind and he seemed to have a sudden realization of something.

"Sonic, you don't think being my partner means I'm taking away your freedom do you?"

Sonic gave a small almost inaudible growl annoyed at having to talk about his own emotions. "And how can I not think about something like that in a world where pokemon rely so much on people and act like pets?"

"Well yea there are some people who keep pokemon as pets but those pokemon don't seem to mind it otherwise they wouldn't stay."

He looked Sonic in the eyes to make sure his next words would feel sincere. "Not all relationships between people and pokemon have to be like pet and owner. Ours certainly doesn't have to be like that. In fact the relationship between trainer and their pokemon is a partnership where each one pulls their own weight and rely on each other equally."

The blue blur continued to listen to the teen in silence. He still wasn't quite sure what this kind of partnership would entail and he wasn't sure if he could be patient enough to find out.

"Look I guess it was a bit of a mistake on my part to make you my partner without telling you all the details. I'll be honest I...kinda got caught up in the moment when we made that deal. But I hope you'll understand when I tell you it might have happened anyway."

"What do you mean it might have happened anyway?" the hero asked.

"My family's ancestry happens to have a long line of individuals who've been known to be able to see into the future. My family calls it the dimensional scream and right before I made that deal with you my dad had a vision of you and I fighting legendary pokemon together. His visions aren't always accurate and are not always guaranteed to be true, but ninety percent of the time they are especially with something big like this." Callen finished waiting for the hedgehog's reaction.

Truth be told, he guessed he couldn't be too mad with the kid for this whole situation. Afterall it's kinda of a recurring thing in his life to be roped into all kinds of important roles. And besides that he still carried quite a bit of curiosity about this world. It was full of things he had yet to explore and if the pokemon here could give him a good fight then battling could be a lot of fun. Of course he would still search for Shadow too.

Callen became a bit nervous when the blue pokemon took longer than expected to answer but he chalked that up to the fact that he may still be sitting the fence about continuing to be his partner. "You know if you were any other pokemon I probably wouldn't be ok with this, but if you ever feel like just going for a run then just go for it. Just remember that until we catch other pokemon that you're the only one I have and it wouldn't be nice to be ambushed by some angry wild pokemon while you were gone. I also promise I won't make you stay in the pokeball if you don't want to," Callen rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. He was trying to appeal to the hedgehog in any way he could and this was the best thing he could offer to make a compromise.

Although Sonic normally doesn't need permission from anyone to tell him when or where he can run, he somehow found himself appreciating the fifteen year olds compromise. He felt it was nice to have a partner that can be considerate of the fact that he's use to being independent rather than treating him like an ordinary pokemon.

"Well I don't know, it seems like a pretty nice deal but I might have to reconsider your offer if it doesn't include chilidogs," the blue blur said with a hand on his chin and a smirk on his face.

"I think we can make some arrangements with my wallet," the boy said already feeling relieved when the hedgehogs playful attitude made another appearance. "Then you'll finally cooperate in being my partner?" he had to ask to be sure.

"Partners until the end of this journey," the blue pokemon gave a thumbs up and grinned.

"Sweet! Then I can finally give you this," the young trainer said untying the green bandanna with black outlines of pokeballs on it from around his arm and laying it in his hand for Sonic to see.

"Trying to impose your fashion tastes on my already?" Sonic said playfully.

"Nah, I just promised someone really important that I'd give it to my partner when I started my journey. I didn't give it to you before because well...we weren't exactly on the best of terms. You don't mind wearing it do you?"

"Not at all, in fact be my guest but mind the quills there sharp," he said sitting up and leaning his head forward a bit so the bandanna could be tied around his neck. Callen was careful and took his time tying the knot not directly behind the hedgehog's neck but rather tying it on the right side of his neck so the ends could be seen.

"There, not too tight is it?" he asked.

Sonic let his hand run over the smooth fabric of the bandanna hugging the fur of his neck and smiled. "It's just fine."

"Then I guess I'll see you in the morning," the trainer said before slowly climbing down the tree towards his sleeping bag where Piper and her Sylveon were already asleep. "Goodnight," he said turning towards the tree the hedgehog was in one final time.

"Goodnight," he told his partner as he leaned back to relax. The hero spent a few more minutes looking up at the night sky before he let sleep take him. He would need it for whatever adventures or battles he would face tomorrow.

* * *

 **I really hope you guys can appreciate the time and effort I put into making unique characters and trying to be accurate with pokemon moves and entries. I'm using both the pokemon anime, and the game as a reference for these chapters. And I'm trying to make the human companions seem like more than just carbon copies of the ones from the anime. You'll learn more about Piper in the next chapter. Roxa814 out!**

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